GENESEO, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (3-14-1) started off their SUNYAC road weekend with a matchup against second ranked SUNY Geneseo (13-3-1) on Friday night. Despite strong play from sophomore goalie Michael Paglucca (North Reading, Mass./New Hampshire Avalanche), the Bears fell by a final score of 4-2. Senior forward Nate Zweig (Binghamton, N.Y./Syracuse Stars) scored twice for the Bears.
 
The Knights hit the ice in full stride, looking to bounce back from just their third loss of the season on Tuesday. Geneseo fired 18 shots on the Bears net in the first stanza, with Potsdam recording only 3. Paglucca stood tough in net for the Bears, withstanding the barrage of shots in the opening minutes. Just past the halfway mark of the period, the Knights were able to finally capitalize as Carson Kelley beat Paglucca in front of the Bears net. Dan Bosio and Devin Brink assisted on the Geneseo goal. The score would remain unchanged at the first break.

The Bears fought to create some offense early in the second period, but the Knights continued to press hard to extend their lead. Just 3:50 into the period, Brendan Miller scored the Knights second goal following a scrum in front of the net, assisted by Andrew Romano and Conlan Keenan. Following a Geneseo penalty and some quality powerplay puck movement, the Bears were able to bury their first goal of the night on a three-on-two rush after a Geneseo defenseman misplayed a puck on a pinch in the Bears end. Sophomore forward Jack Bloem (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Connecticut Rangers) stormed into the Geneseo end and fed the puck across the ice to sophomore forward Tom Terranova (Middletown, N.J./Syracuse Stars), who redirected the pass ahead to Zweig. Zweig was able to deke the Geneseo goalie while falling to the ice to cut the lead in half. The goal was a powerplay goal and came at the 7:58 mark of the second period. The Bears wouldn't stop there, as they were able to tie the game on Zweig's second goal of the game just under five minutes later. Junior forward Brett Horn (Cary, N.C./Humboldt Broncos) fed the puck up ice to senior forward Joey Sollazzo (Ottawa, Ontario Navan Grads) who then sent a cross ice pass to the back door while diving over a sliding Geneseo defender. Zweig slammed home the pass, tying the game at two. Despite being outshot 27-10 in the first two periods, the Bears would hold the Knights off the scoreboard for the remainder of the period and take the 2-2 tie into the second intermission.

The third period would be scoreless through the first 14 minutes of play, however, Geneseo was able to break the tie with just over five minutes remaining in the period. Kelley scored his second of the night, with another assist from Brink. With time winding down, the Bears searched for the equalizer after pulling Paglucca for the extra attacker. The Knights were able fend off the Bears, as Kelley finished off his hat trick with an empty net goal with 28 seconds remaining. Tyson Empey and Cam Russell tallied assists on the empty netter.

Paglucca finished with 32 saves in net for the Bears, while Aaron Mackay stopped 20 shots for Geneseo. The Bears were 1-5 on the powerplay, Geneseo was 0-3.

The Bears head to The College at Brockport tomorrow for a 4 p.m. SUNYAC showdown.