CORTLAND, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (2-14, 1-9 SUNYAC) never trailed as it defeated SUNY Cortland (10-8-1, 5-4-1) 3-1 on Saturday night. Senior assistant captain
Thomas Terranova (Middletown, N.J./Syracuse Stars), senior forward
Robert Clerc (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Oswego State) and senior captain
Ethan Clark (Seven Valleys, Pa./New Hampshire Avalanche) each scored for the Bears. Junior goalie
Connor Green made 39 saves for his second career victory.
Potsdam controlled the play in the first period thanks in part to three power-play opportunities. The Bears outshot the Red Dragons 16-7. Cortland goalie Owen Zdunski was solid, but Terranova finally solved him at 15:53 on the power play. Junior forward
Nick Alfieri (Buffalo, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) and freshman forward
Garrett McArthur (London, Ontario/Markham Royals) each assisted on the goal.
The Red Dragons reversed the momentum in the second period, building an 18-9 advantage in shots. This time it was Green's turn to frustrate an offense. He stopped 17 shots and Clerc increased the lead to 2-0 with an unassisted tally at 6:47. Michael Sciore finally got Cortland on the board with a power-play goal at 11:53. However, Potsdam led 2-1 after 40 minutes.
The Red Dragons outshot the Bears 15-9 in the third period, but couldn't crack Green again. Cortland pulled Zdunski for an extra attacker with 1:36 remaining. With 39 seconds left, Clark buried an empty-netter to slam the door on the victory.
Zdunski finished with 31 saves. The Bears were 1-for-4 on the power play and the Red Dragons were 1-for-2.
Potsdam is back in action next Friday at 7 p.m. when the Bears host Brockport at 7 p.m.
