MASSENA, N.Y.—Freshman goaltender Alexa Pfeiffer (Sylvania, Ohio/Little Caesar's) made 39 saves, but the SUNY Potsdam women's hockey team (7-6) bowed to Hamilton College (7-3) 1-0 at Massena Arena on Tuesday afternoon. Hamilton sophomore forward Andrea Rockey (Morgantown, W.Va./Shady Side Academy) scored the game's lone goal.

The Continentals edged Potsdam territorially in the opening period and outshot the Bears 7-3. Though Hamilton wasn't able to get many shots though, the Continentals put a lot of traffic in front of the net. That made several chances more challenging for Pfeiffer, but she was able to handle each. Late in the period, Bears junior assistant captain Anna-Rose Bertin (Marathon, Ontario/Canadian International Hockey Academy) broke free at the right side of Hamilton zone and fired a low shot on Continentals junior goalie Sam Walther (Gambrills, Md./The Gunnery). Walther made the save and the teams entered the first intermission scoreless.

Hamilton outshot the Bears 13-4 in the second intermission. Despite the disadvantage, Potsdam was able to clear much of the traffic in front of Pfeiffer and force many of the shots out to the perimeter. The Bears were able to kill off the game's first penalty midway through the period. Minutes later, Pfeiffer robbed Continentals sophomore forward Olivia Hawes (Spring, Texas/The Woodlands High School) with a pad save on a one timer from the slot. The second period ended the same as the first, with no score, but Hamilton entered the second break with 1:38 remaining on its second power play.

The Continentals opened the period with sustained pressure on the power play, but Pfeiffer made four more saves and Potsdam was able to kill it off. Hamilton returned the favor minutes later, killing off the Bears' only man advantage of the day. Pfeiffer made another big save at the 14:50 mark, robbing senior forward Katie Parkman (Stratford, P.E.I./Brewster Academy), Potsdam couldn't clear the zone. Just 24 seconds later, Hamilton sophomore forward Andrea Rockey (Morgantown, W.Va./Shady Side Academy) wristed a pass from sophomore forward Jenna Jewell (St. Albert, Alberta/Bellrose Composite) by the blocker of Pfeiffer. The Continentals hit the crossbar with 8:40 to go as the Bears worked to break the pressure. Pfeiffer was pulled for an extra attacker with 35 seconds left, but Potsdam couldn't net the equalizer.

Walther made 13 saves for the shutout. Hamilton was 0-for-3 on the power play and the Bears were 0-for-1.

Potsdam returns to ECAC West play when the Bears host Neumann University for two games this weekend. The Knights invade Maxcy Ice Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday before a quick turnaround and a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.