Manchester, N.H.—The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (4-11-1) jumped out to 3-0 first period lead and never looked back in a 6-0 victory over Southern New Hampshire (2-9-2). The win was the first of junior goaltender Kevin McFarland's (St. Louis, Mo./Woodstock Slammers) collegiate career and ended a seven-game winless stretch for the Bears. Senior forward Fraser Smith (Fonthill, Ontario/Oakville Blades) scored two goals and added an assist to lead Potsdam, while McFarland made 14 saves to earn the shutout.

Senior forward Kevin MacLellan (Kensington, Prince Edward Island/Summerside Capitals) gave the Bears the lead for good four minutes into the first period after being set up by freshman forward Mike Arnold (Didsbury, Alberta/Kingston Voyageurs) and junior defenseman Matt Rhymer (Kingston, Ontario/Yarmouth Mariners). Freshman forward David Carr (Edmonton, Alberta/St. Albert Steel) and senior forward Jordan Delong (Perth-Andover, New Brunswick/Woodstock Slammers) each assisted on sophomore forward Matt Viola's (Toronto, Ontario/Vaughan Vipers) goal at 18:14. Thirty seconds later Smith struck for his first of the game with assists from junior forward Sy Nutkevitch (Montreal, Quebec/Cornwall Colts) and freshman forward Jesse Ostring (Ylojarvi, Finland/Sammon Lukio). The Bears outshot the Penmen 24-4 in the first period.

Potsdam kept up the pressure in the second period and Smith got his team-leading eighth goal of the season and second of the game at the 10:31 mark. Nutkevitch and Ostring again recorded assists. The Bears fired another 14 shots on Penman goalie Ryan Gleason during the period.

Ostring scored an unassisted goal at 2:17 of the third period to extend Potsdam's lead to 5-0. With less than four minutes to go Delong closed the scoring with the sixth Bear goal on an assist from freshman forward Brandon Couto (Bowmanville, Ontario/Cobourg Cougars).

Potsdam outshot Southern New Hampshire 57-14. Gleason finished with 51 saves for the Penmen. Both teams were 0-3 on the power play.

Bears Head Coach Chris Bernard was very happy with his team's performance and the way the game unfolded.

“It was nice to have one of those games where we seized control early and maintained that control,” said Bernard. “We were able to get contributions from all four lines and build their confidence as well.”

Bernard also had praise for his goaltender.

“It was also nice to get the shutout. Kevin McFarland responded well in his start and made some challenging saves to get the shutout.”

Potsdam returns to Maxcy Hall and conference play for SUNYAC showdowns with Brockport and sixth-ranked Geneseo on Jan. 21-22, respectively. Both contests are scheduled for 7 p.m.