News Detail
Bears handle Roos, 4-1
10.20.10
Potsdam, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team won their preseason tune up with a 4-1 exhibition win over SUNY Canton (5-1). The Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and tacked on a goal in each of the last two periods.
Potsdam sophomore defenseman Brett Waters (Uxbridge, Ontario/Markham Waxers) opened the scoring at the 5:25 mark, firing a shot from the point over the shoulder of screened Roos senior goaltender Jimmy Merrow (Plainsboro, N.J./West Windsor Plainsboro) and the Bears never trailed. Just over nine minutes later Potsdam senior defenseman Pat Choules (Bradford, Ontario/Kahnawake Condors) buried a pass from junior defenseman Hunter Syrydiuk (Toronto, Ontario/Bowmanville Eagles) for the eventual game-winner and a 2-0 Bears lead. Potsdam outshot Canton 9-4 in the opening period.
The Bears took control of the contest in the second period, peppering Merrow with 20 shots. Merrow was very sharp keeping the Roos in the game, but Potsdam finally solved him late in the period. At the 17:54 mark, Bears senior forward Jordan DeLong (Perth-Andover, New Brunswick/Woodstock Slammers) scored to make it 3-0 on assists from freshmen Nick Avgerinos (Bolton, Ontario/Georgetown Raiders) and Jesse Ostring (Ylojarvi, Finland/Sammon Lukio). In his two periods in goal, Potsdam junior Trevor O’Neill (Bobcaygeon, Ontario/Stouffville Spirit) stopped all 14 shots he faced.
Canton jumped on the Bears early in third period and was rewarded with its lone goal of the contest. A high shot from Roos sophomore forward Jeremiah Harden (Alpharetta, Ga./Atlanta Jr. Knights) sailed past a screened Potsdam junior goalie Kevin McFarland (St. Louis, Mo./Wootstock Slammers) to break up the shutout at the 4:17 mark. The Bears struck back over just three minutes later as freshman forward Brandon Couto (Bowmanville, Ontario/Cobourg Cougars) scored Potsdam’s fourth and final goal on assists from sophomore forward Bill Tsekos (Montreal, Quebec/Vaudrevil Mustangs) and junior forward Todd Hosmer (Toronto, Ontario/Vaughan Vipers). Late penalties allowed the Roos to keep momentum, outshooting the Bears 12-5 in the third period, but neither team could add another goal.
McFarland stopped four shots in his only period and Merrow finished with 37 saves for Canton.
Head Coach Chris Bernard was satisfied with his team’s effort in the victory.
“Bottom line in a game like that, we’re looking for a high level of competition from the guys and I think we got that,” said Bernard. “We expected that our execution wasn’t going to be pin-point accurate and we knew we were going to have to win battles in the corners, move the puck low to high, and find shooting lanes to get pucks to the net. We seemed to have some success.”
Bernard was also pleased with the play of his upperclassmen.
“A lot of our veterans really stepped up. They know that they are going to earn their ice time just like everybody else. It’s really great for me to see them lead the way and show the young guys the kind of pace that we want to play at. This is what it’s going to take to not only be in the lineup, but stay in the lineup and contribute.”
The Bears open up the season for real on the road Friday, Oct. 29, against SUNYAC rival Brockport at 7 p.m. In their last meeting, the Golden Eagles defeated Potsdam 3-0 in the first round of last season’s SUNYAC playoffs on Feb. 23.