POTSDAM, N.Y.--- The SUNY Potsdam women's soccer team (4-1) defeated visiting SUNY Canton (2-2) 5-0 on Wednesday night in the ninth annual Boyd Jones Cup. Potsdam overwhelmed Canton by shooting from all angles and distances in the first period to build their comfortable 4-0 lead. The Kangaroos couldn't find any holes in the Bears' defense, having few scoring opportunities. Five different players scored for the Bears on the night. The bright spot for Canton was the 13 saves for junior Allison Wakefield (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd) including a couple of great deflections late in the first half.
 
The Bears brought great pressure to begin the game against the Kangaroos. Senior forward Olivia Seamans (Bolton Landing, N.Y./Bolton) scored the first goal of the game on the assist from senior midfielder Brooke Falsion (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) after drawing out Wakefield. The Bears second goal came at the 9:37 mark after senior midfielder Rylie Murray (Berkeley, Mich./Berkeley) broke free and had a good look at the goal, but hit the crossbar. Falsion however, stayed with the play and buried the rebound for the Bears. Potsdam's third goal came just two minutes later as Murray was able to score with an assist from sophomore defender Maeve Morrissey (Averill Park, N.Y./Averill Park). On two separate occasions, sophomore forward Lexi Dean (Schenectady, N.Y./Mohonasen) was all alone to challenge Wakefield, but the keeper dove for the ball and was able to deflect it both times. Freshman midfielder Hannah Dentel (Palmyra, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon) added to the lead by scoring her first career goal at 36:38 to make it 4-0. Along with their flurry on offense in the first half, the Bears remained aggressive and alert on defense. Canton meanwhile, struggled on offense and wasn't able to get through the Bears defense, attempting just two shots in the half. Although Wakefield had six saves, Potsdam continued to find holes in the defense which led to their 19 scoring opportunities. Potsdam went into the break with the 4-0 advantage over Canton.
 
It was more of the same in the second half for both teams. On the Kangaroos end, they struggled to get anything to go, as the Bears defense read them well. On Potsdam's end, they didn't take their foot off the pedal. At the 72:58 mark, senior forward Amber Hyatt (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) scored the fifth goal of the night for the Bears. After a nice feed from freshman forward Makenna Crosson (East Auora, N.Y./East Auora), Wakefield tripped on the ball, and Hyatt drove it home.
 
In goal for Potsdam, sophomore Gabby Hobika (New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) earned the victory despite not facing a shot in the first half. Junior Delphine Léonard (Anjou, Quebec/Dawson College Prep) stopped one shot in the final 45 minutes.
 
With her three points, Falsion now has 82 (35g-12a), 20 behind Jodie Ziemba for the program's all-time lead. Murray has moved up to seventh all-time with 13 goals and 24 assists for 50 points.
 
Potsdam outshot Canton 34-4 and had an 11-0 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Next, the Bears head to Utica to take on the Pioneers (1-2-1) Friday at 6 p.m. Potsdam is 11-11-1 in the all-time series with Utica dating back to 1989, but is undefeated in the last five meetings (4-0-1).
 

(L-R): AD Sharief Hashim, Brooke Falsion, Rylie Murray, Lauren Vedete, Olivia Seamans, Rachael Venne, Sarah Erno and Karlee Burdick.