POTSDAM —The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (6-9-2) opened the contest with three straight goals to defeat Stevenson University (8-7-2) 3-1 in the first ever meeting between the two teams.

The Bears got goals from the SUNYAC's reigning Rookie of the Week, Bryce Ferrell (East Amherst, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres), junior defenseman Kyle Thacker (Mississauga, Ontario/North York Rangers) and junior forward Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack).

After battling evenly for much of the first period, Potsdam went on its second power play at 17:16. Just 1:37 later, Ferrell put the Bears up for good. Sophomore forward Mike Sweeney (Pittsburgh, Pa./PAL Islanders) and freshman forward Tyler Young (Massena, N.Y./Kanata Lasers) each assisted on the play. Sophomore goalie Nate Skidmore (Syracuse, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) stopped all 13 shots he faced in the first.

Potsdam sophomore goalie Trever Ralph (Middletown, N.J./New Jersey Titans) started the second period. The Bears outshot the Mustangs 10-4 and it paid off. Thacker scored on a shot from the right faceoff circle to make it 2-0 at 4:56.

Freshmen forwards Nick Keck (Holland, Pa./Odessa Jackalopes) and Anthony Merante (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Thorold Blackhawks) recorded the assists. After the goal, Skidmore reentered the game. At 7:32, Vander Esch picked off a Stevenson clearing attempt and beat Mustangs junior goalie Jacob Caffery (Bethesda, Md./American International) and put the Bears up by three. The score was unchanged after 40 minutes.

Stevenson finally got on the board at 12:50 of the third period. Freshman forward Nick Bohatiuk (Bensalem, Pa./Boston Jr. Rangers) finished a feed from junior forward Jordan Watt (Riverside, Calif./Neumann University) to close the gap to 3-1. Caffery was pulled for an extra attacker with 2:12 remaining, but the Mustangs couldn't get any closer.

Skidmore finished with 29 saves in 55:04 and Ralph didn't face a shot in 4:56. However by rule, since Ralph was in goal when the game-winner was scored, he was awarded the victory. Caffrey stopped 32 shots.

The Mustangs were 0-for-2 on the man advantage and the Bears were 1-for-2.

Potsdam heads to Utica College tomorrow night for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Pioneers.