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Bears women's hockey, Pfeiffer shut out Lakers, earn No. 2 seed in NEWHL Tourney

Posted 2/17/19

POTSDAM, N.Y.—With the first home playoff game in program history on the line, Bears junior assistant captain Alexa Pfeiffer (Sylvania, Ohio/Little Caesar's) came through with a 34-save shut out in …

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Bears women's hockey, Pfeiffer shut out Lakers, earn No. 2 seed in NEWHL Tourney

Posted

POTSDAM, N.Y.—With the first home playoff game in program history on the line, Bears junior assistant captain Alexa Pfeiffer (Sylvania, Ohio/Little Caesar's) came through with a 34-save shut out in the SUNY Potsdam women's hockey team's (9-12-3, 6-7-2 NEWHL) 1-0 victory over Oswego State (10-12-3, 5-9-2) on Saturday. Junior defenseman Delphine Léonard (Anjou, Quebec/Dawson College Prep) scored the game-winner at 6:38 of the third period on the power play. The win was the 20th of Pfeiffer's career, tying her with Jen Conophy '13 for the program record.

After a slow start to the contest, the Lakers went on the power play at the 4:48 mark. Oswego moved the puck well, but Pfeiffer made two key saves to keep the contest scoreless. Potsdam tested Oswego junior goalie Rachael Farmer (Grand Island, N.Y./SUNY Cortland) in the middle of the period, but she responded with sharp play. After another unsuccessful power play from each squad, Potsdam went into the break with 46 second left on its second man advantage. Oswego had nine first period shots to the Bears' eight.

The Lakers killed the penalty to open the second period and then alternated the next four with Potsdam with neither team having any luck on special teams. Potsdam went on an 18-second 5-on-3 power play with 3:16 left in the period, but Farmer and the Lakers defense kept the Bears off the board. Pfeiffer had 13 saves in the second and Farmer made 12 stops.

Oswego went on the power play again less than three minutes into the third, but continued to struggle. At 6:07, the Lakers were whistled for cross checking and Potsdam earned its sixth man advantage of the day. Oswego won the ensuing faceoff, but sophomore forward Natalie Wasielewski (Carnegie, Pa./Pittsburgh Penguins Elite) dug the puck out of the corner and sent it to senior captain Rylie Murray (Berkley, Mich./Honeybaked) at the right point. Murray then fed Léonard at the left point and she ripped a high shot over Farmer for a 1-0 lead. The Lakers and Bears traded abbreviated power plays with time winding down, but again with no luck. With 1:21 left, Potsdam was called for a final penalty. The Lakers called timeout and pulled Farmer for an extra attacker. With seconds left, Pfeiffer stonewalled Oswego junior forward Eryn Stewart (Stonewall, Manitoba/Central Plains Midget Capitals) point blank to slam the door.

Farmer finished with 29 saves. Pfeiffer is now 4-1 in her career against the Lakers. Oswego was 0-for-7 on the power play and Potsdam finished 1-for-7.

The victory gives the Bears the two seed in the next weekend's NEWHL Semifinals, where they'll host three seed SUNY Cortland. Potsdam is 2-1-1 in three meetings with the Red Dragons this season. Game time is TBA.

Prior to the contest, seniors Murray and assistant captain Tatum Walber (Orchard Park, N.Y./Buffalo Regals) were honored for their careers on Senior Day.

The Bears will now head to Buffalo State for one final regular season game tomorrow at 3 p.m. The game was postponed from Jan. 19 due to a winter storm. The contest has no bearing on playoff seeding.