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Bears suffer heartbreaking defeat in regular season home finale

Posted 1/30/11

POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team suffered a shocking, gut-wrenching defeat Saturday, falling 7-6 in overtime against Cortland in a State University of New York Athletic …

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Bears suffer heartbreaking defeat in regular season home finale

Posted

POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team suffered a shocking, gut-wrenching defeat Saturday, falling 7-6 in overtime against Cortland in a State University of New York Athletic Conference tilt at Maxcy Hall Ice Arena.

Freshman Mike Arnold (Didsbury, Alberta) scored the go-ahead goal in regulation for the Bears after taking a deflection from a diving Adam Place (Toronto, Ontario) and putting it past the goaltender. Freshman Nick Avgerinos (Bolton, Ontario) kept the puck alive and also received an assist on the play.

Arnold’s tally appeared to be the game-winner for Potsdam until Cortland (5-13-2 overall, 4-7-1 SUNYAC) rallied to tie the game with just over two minutes remaining in regulation.

The Red Dragons scored the game-winner just over a minute into the extra period.

Senior Colin MacLennan (Whitby, Ontario) scored two goals and senior captain Fraser Smith (Fonthill, Ontario) totaled three points in the game for Potsdam (5-14-1, 3-9).

As the last regular season home game for the Bears, the contest also marked the final home match for Potsdam’s six seniors – Smith, MacLennan, Patrick Choules (Bradford, Ontario), Zack Juliano (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), Kevin MacLellan (Kensington, Prince Edward Island) and Jordan Delong (Perth-Andover, New Brunswick).

After scoring four first-period goals to take a commanding 4-1 advantage, the Bears allowed four tallies in the second.

In the third, Smith found the equalizer on a power play with 10:17 on the clock. Just over a minute later, Arnold struck to give the Bears the lead.

The Bears tallied three times in the first 10 minutes of the contest. After a wrister by freshman Jesse Ostring (Ylojarvi, Finland) and a Cortland goal, MacLennan added to his team-leading season points total with back-to-back goals, putting Potsdam ahead 3-1 with 10:50 to play in the opening period.

MacLellan added the Bears’ fourth first-period score with 3:35 on the clock, taking a feed in front of the net and sending the puck top shelf past the goaltender.

Junior Sy Nutkevitch (Montreal, Quebec) finished with two assists for Potsdam. Junior goaltender Kevin McFarland (St. Louis, Mo.), who entered the game midway through the second period, posted 19 saves in defeat.

Saturday’s contest also marked the last game of Hockey Day in Potsdam, a triple-header featuring the Potsdam Central High boys’ hockey team and the Clarkson University men’s hockey team. All proceeds raised as part of the event will benefit Marine Cpl. Aaron Howell, a Parishville, N.Y., native who was severely injured during a tour of duty in Afghanistan last April.

Potsdam returns to the ice on Friday, Feb. 4, at Morrisville. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.