Brockport, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team rallied from an early deficit to open the 2010-11 campaign with a convincing 5-2 road victory over SUNY Brockport (0-2, 0-1 SUNYAC). Senior forward Colin MacLennan(Whitby, Ontario/Ajax Attack) scored three goals and assisted on a fourth to lead the Bears past the Golden Eagles. Senior captain Fraser Smith (Fonthill, Ontario/Oakville Blades) and freshman forward Brandon Couto (Bowmanville, Ontario/Cobourg Cougars) also scored for Potsdam.

The Bears found themselves behind early as Brockport forward Tom Galiani struck at the 12:51 mark to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead. Brockport’s advantage lasted just over six minutes before Potsdam evened the score on the power play. MacLennan netted his first of the night at 18:56 of the first period with assists from junior forwards Sy Nutkevitch (Montreal,Quebec/Corwall Colts) and Todd Hosmer (Toronto, Ontario/Newmarket Hurricanes).

The Bears wasted no time in the second period and grabbed the lead for good as Smith scored on an assist from Couto and MacLennan at the 4:30 mark. Couto registered his first collegiate goal and the eventual game winner just over nine minutes later for a 3-1 Potsdam advantage.

Eleven minutes into the third period, sophomore defenseman Matt Miller(Pickering, Ontario/Cobourg Cougars) set up MacLennan’s second of the contest. At the 13:26 mark, freshman forward David Carr (Edmonton, Alberta/St. Albert Steel) recorded his first point as a Bear, assisting on MacLennan’s third goal of the night. With just 2:34 remaining, the Golden Eagles’ Mike Hayward tallied a power-play goal, but Brockport would get no closer as the Bears rolled to the 5-2 win.

Junior goaltender Trevor O’Neill (Bobcaygeon, Ontario/Stouffville Spirit) stopped 26 shots in the win for Potsdam. Golden Eagle goalie Oliver Wren made 28 saves for Brockport. The Bears were one for three on the power play and the Golden Eagles finished one for four.

“It was a typical tough grinding SUNYAC game between two good teams and we were fortunate to grab two points on the road,” said Bears Head Coach Chris Bernard. “We were solid offensively and defensively tonight and our special teams played pretty well too.”

Bernard was pleased with MacLennan and O’Neill’s performances.

“Colin (MacLennan) is a smart player who is in the right place at the right time and he knows how to finish as we saw tonight. I felt Trevor(O’Neill) was razor sharp tonight. Not only did he make some tremendous saves, but he made them at critical times to help us win the hockey game.

The Bears (1-0, 1-0) travel to Geneseo (2-0-1, 1-0) tomorrow night for a 7 p.m. faceoff with the Ice Knights.