POTSDAM, N.Y.—Buffalo State senior forward Theo Pencic (Oslo, Norway/Heltberg) scored two goals to lead the Bengals (10-3, 3-2 SUNYAC) past the SUNY Potsdam men's soccer team (2-9-2, 0-6) 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. Freshman forward Michael Collins (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) scored his first career goal for the Bears and senior goalkeeper Conor Callan (Piermont, N.Y./Tappan Zee) made a season-high nine saves on Senior Day.
 
Buffalo State held the edge in play, outshooting Potsdam 9-6 in the first half. Just over 15 minutes into the contest, senior midfielder Michael Diano (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay East) nearly put the Bears up 1-0, but his shot just missed the left post. It was the Bengals that actually got on the board first at 39:58. Buffalo State junior midfielder Moe Saif (Lackawanna, N.Y./Coppell) picked up the ball on the right side of the field, just across the center line. He moved the ball toward the right side of the box, cut left past a defender and fired a rocket into the right corner of the net. The score was unchanged at the break.
 
Buffalo State doubled its lead at 65:50 of the second half. Freshman midfielder Musa Abdulla (Lackawanna, N.Y./Home Schooled) fed Pecic in tight at the right side of the net and he knocked it home to make it 2-0. The Bears rallied just 3:21 later. After being awarded a free kick, Potsdam launched the ball into the penalty area. Freshman midfielder Brennan Halbohm (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) knocked the ball down and Collins buried it to cut the lead to one. Callan was busy in the final period, making five saves to keep his team in the contest. However, Pencic broke loose at 87:19 after picking up a pass from freshman forward Jamal Belarj (Medford, N.Y./Longwood) and scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1.
 
Bengals junior goalie Max Shoemaker (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara-Wheatfield) made five saves for the win.
 
Prior to the contest, Potsdam honored seniors Diano, Callan, Justin Lamando (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip), Colin Zieske (Averill Park, N.Y./Averill Park), Sebastian Matos (Huntington, N.Y./Half Hallow Hills East) and Patrick Frascello and (Highland Mills, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury).
 
The Bears are back on the road next weekend when they head to Geneseo on Friday at 4 p.m. and Brockport at 1 p.m. on Saturday.