POTSDAM, N.Y.- The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (1-1) got a career-high 53 saves from junior goaltender
Jon Hall (Dexter, N.Y./Stouffville Spirit) to upset 15th-ranked Hobart College (1-1) on Saturday night at Maxcy Ice Arena. The victory ends an eight-game drought (0-7-1) against the Statesmen. Senior assistant captain
Ken Simon (Norwell, Mass. N.Y./Philadelphia Revolution) had three assists to lead the Bears and senior defenseman
Max Fogel (Williamsville, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) scored the game-winner late in the third.
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Hobart opened the scoring at the 8:01 mark of the first period as senior forward Bronson Kovacs (Sault Ste Marie, Ont/Huntsville Otters) fired a shot wide of the net and junior forward Mac Olson (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Des Moines) knocked the puck past an out of position Hall. With less than two minutes to go in the period, Simon fed sophomore forward
Nick Casacci (Ft. Lauderdale, FL/Connecticut Oilers) for his first career goal to tie the score.
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The Bears brought pressure early in the middle stanza and were rewarded with freshman forward
Dylan Vander Esch's (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) first collegiate goal just 36 seconds period. Junior captain
Todd Thomas (Davidsville, Pa./Hartford Wolfpack) assisted on the goal. Hobart tied the game just 87 seconds later as junior forward Bo Webster (Aurora, Ontario/Newmarket Hurricanes) finished a pass from freshman forward Jordan Haskell (Stasbury Park, Utah/Portland Jr. Pirates). At the 7:00 mark, the Statesmen made the most of a five-on-three power play as Kovacs gave Hobart its last lead. The advantage lasted less than three minutes before the Bears returned the favor with power-play goal of their own. Senior defenseman
Dan McCamey (Dayton, Ohio/Minnesota Flying Aces) finished a perfect pass from Simon at 9:51. Junior forward
Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York Bobcats) put Potsdam up for good at the 16:25 mark with a beautiful move around a Hobart defenseman. The Bears carried the 4-3 lead into the final break.
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Hall was huge in the third period, making 22 of his saves in the final 20 minutes. After stopping the barrage, Fogel made the most of his opportunity. At 15:22, the defenseman blasted a shot from the right point that Statesman junior goalie Lino Chimienti (Montreal, Quebec/Merritt Centennials) never saw. Hall and the Bears defense did the job the rest of the way. With 40 seconds remaining, Hobart junior forward Ben Gamache (Longlac, Ontario/Veron Vipers) scored an extra-attacker goal, but it was too little too late for the Statesmen.
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Chimienti finished with 16 saves in the loss. Hobart was just 1-9 on the power play and Potsdam was 1-3. Over the weekend, Bears penalty killers allowed just one goal on their opponent's 17 power-play opportunities.
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The Bears are back in action on Friday, Nov. 7, when they head to No. 4 SUNY Geneseo to take on the Blue Knights at 7 p.m.
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