MANCHESTER, N.H.—The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (5-5-1) opened the 2015 half of its season with a 6-2 drubbing of Saint Anselm College (4-6-1) on Friday night. Junior captain Todd Thomas (Davidsville, Pa./Hartford Wolfpack) led the Bears with two goals and two assists and senior forward Trevor Cope (Swartz Creek, Mich./Atlanta Jr. Knights) added two goals and an assist. Junior goaltender Jon Hall (Dexter, N.Y./Stouffville Spirit) made 32 saves to improve to 5-3-1 on the season.

Things didn't look like they would go Potsdam's way early. The Bears were called for interference 47 seconds into the contest. Just 22 seconds later, Peter Sikalis gave the Hawks their lone lead of the game on the man advantage. Saint Anselm clung to the lead for 14 minutes and 17 seconds. That's when Cope evened the score with an even strength-tally. The first period ended with the score still knotted at one apiece and the shots even at nine apiece.

Potsdam broke the game open with four goals in the middle stanza. Junior forward Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York Bobcats) put the Bears up for good with helpers from senior forward Zach Blake (Campbellford, Ontario/SUNY Plattsburgh) and junior forward Matt Thompson (Anchorage, Alaska/Kenai River Brown Bears) at the 1:15 mark. At 1:41, Cope struck again with the eventual game-winner to make it 3-1 with an assist from Thomas. Hawks Coach Ed Seney called timeout to settle his team after the marker. Unfortunately for the Bears Hall of Famer, it didn't stop Potsdam. Thomas made it 4-1 at 8:11 with assists from senior assistant captain Ken Simon (Norwell, Mass./Philadelphia Revolution) and Cope. The goal chased Saint Anselm goalie Brenden Cain from the net. Brad Rocheville replaced Cain and played the remainder of the contest between the pipes. Thompson greeted him rudely just over three minutes later, making it 5-1. Blake and Pascalli recorded assists on the goal. The Hawks' goaltenders made just six saves on 10 shots in the second period.

Saint Anselm's Kody Grodin closed the gap to 5-2 2:01 into the final 20 minutes, but the Hawks would get no closer. Despite being outshot 15-10 in the third period, the Bears would get the final goal. At the 12:24 mark, Thomas scored an unassisted goal, while Potsdam was killing a penalty to close the scoring at 6-2.

Cain allowed four goals on 15 shots in the first 20:54. Rocheville stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced in the final 29:06.

Saint Anselm was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Potsdam was 0-for-4.

The victory ends a three-game skid for the Bears and gives them a 3-0 all-time mark against the Hawks.

Potsdam looks to gain a bit of revenge against the University of New England (3-8) tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. The Nor'easters spoiled the Maxcy Hall reopening celebration on Nov. 2, 2013, with a 6-3 win in the teams' first-ever meeting.