Rochester, N.Y.—Freshman Massena native Tyler Young (Massena, N.Y./Kanata Lasers) broke out with two goals and an assist as the SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (3-8-2) defeated Nazareth College (5-8-2) 6-3 in the teams' first ever meeting. Senior assistant captain Vinny Caligiuri (Shoreham, N.Y./Hartford Wolfpack) had the game-winning goal and an assist and senior defenseman Kyle Thacker (Mississauga, Ontario/North York Ranger) and junior forward Joey Gilhooly (Brooklyn, N.Y./New York Bobcats) each chipped in two assists.

The first period was a rough one for Potsdam as the Golden Flyers outshot the Bears 14-6 and built a 2-0 lead. Zander Prior made it 1-0 Nazareth 9:22 into the contest and Phil Kreuser doubled the lead exactly one minute later. The score was unchanged after 20 minutes.

Junior forward Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) scored the first of six unanswered goals for Potsdam just 3:46 into the second period. Caligiuri and Thacker each assisted on the play. At the 11:48 mark, sophomore forward Mike Sweeney (Pittsburgh, Pa./PAL Islanders) made the most of a power play to get Potsdam even at 2-2. Thacker and Young had the assists. Just 1:29 later, Young scored his second career goal and first of the game to put the Bears in front for good. Freshman forward Nick Keck (Holland, Pa./Odessa Jackalopes) and Gilhooly recorded the assists. Junior goaltender Brendan McMenimen (Merrimac, Mass./Islander Hockey Club) stopped all 11 shots he faced in the middle stanza to protect the 3-2 lead.

Caligiuri netted the decisive tally at 3:09 of the final period with helpers from Gilhooly and junior defenseman Sean Kacerosky (Kendall Park, N.J./New York Bobcats). Just 21 seconds after that, Young capped his big night with an unassisted marker. Senior assistant captain Alex Goodhue (Traverse City, Mich./Atlanta Jr. Knights) closed the Bears' scoring with another unassisted tally at 7:31 to make it 6-2. With 3:01 to play, Dominik Gabaj scored a final goal for the Golden Flyers, but it couldn't change their fate.

McMenimen finished with 29 saves for the 11th win of his career. Michael Tilford was tagged with the loss after allowing four goals on 20 shots in the first 43:09. He was replaced by Brandon Lane, who allowed two goals on 15 shots in the last 16:51.

Potsdam outshot Nazareth 35-32 and went 1-for-4 on the power play. The Golden Flyers were 0-for-3.

The two teams go at it again in Rochester at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.