POTSDAM, N.Y.—No. 8/9 Buffalo State (14-4-1, 6-3-1 SUNYAC) and the SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (6-12-2, 1-9-1) combined for seven second period goals, before the Bengals came away with a 7-3 victory. Junior forward Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) scored twice for the Bears and freshman forward Anthony Merante (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Thorold Blackhawks) recorded the other goal.

Merante got the Bears started quickly. Just 1:20 into the contest. He deflected a shot from senior assistant captain Vinny Caligiuri (Shoreham, N.Y./Hartford Wolfpack) past Buffalo State senior goalie Mike DeLaVergne (Pawling, N.Y./Wilkes Barre-Scranton Knights) to make it 1-0. Sophomore defenseman Trevor Dennis (Rochester, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) earned the second assist on the goal.

Freshman forward Anthony Passero (Fort Erie, Ontario/Fort Eire Meteors) started the Bengals' first scoring run just 24 seconds into the second period to tie the score. Senior Forward Taylor Pryce (New Market, Ontario/North York Rangers) put Buffalo State in front with a power-play marker at 1:44 and sophomore forward Mac Wood (Simcoe, Ontario/Southern Oregon Spartans) made it a 3-1 contest at 4:35. The Bears called timeout after the goal and fought their way back into the contest. Vander Esch tied the game with two goals in 33 seconds. The first came at 9:02 with assists from freshman forward Nick Keck (Holland, Pa./Odessa Jackalopes) and senior captain Nick Casacci (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Connecticut Oilers). His second came with helpers form junior defenseman Sean Kacerosky (Kendall Park, N.J./New York Bobcats) and Keck. The momentum swing lasted just five minutes as the Bengals countered with two goals in 2:59. Freshman forward Roberts Šmits (Riga, Latvia/New Jersey Titans) put Buffalo State back in front for good at 14:49 and senior forward Anthony Beaumont (Lester, Pa./Hartford Jr. Wolfpack) added a fifth goal at 17:28.

Potsdam outshot the Bengals 16-11 in the third period, but wasn't rewarded for the effort. Freshman forward Jonathan Colley (Stouffville, Ontario/Newmarket Hurricanes) thwarted Potsdam's comeback hopes at 16:26, making it 6-3. Freshman forward Zach Remers (Clarence, N.Y./Wilkes Barre-Scranton Knights) chipped in an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left to close the scoring.

Bears junior goalie Brendan McMenimen (Merrimac, Mass./Islanders Hockey Club) made 28 saves and DeLaVergne finished with 31.

The Bengals were 1-for-4 on the power play and the Bears were 0-for-3.

Prior to the game, Potsdam student Matt King, a four-year veteran of the 10th Mountain Division and a current Army ROTC Cadet, dropped the first puck for the third annual Military Appreciation Night. All veterans, active duty personnel, National Guard and reservists received free admission to the contest. The Bears wore special camouflaged jerseys.

Next, Potsdam heads to third ranked Oswego State on Friday for a 7 p.m. faceoff.