WORCESTER, MASS.-Five different Bears scored as the SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (8-5-2) rolled to a 5-2 victory at Western New England University (1-11-1) on Sunday evening. Senior Billy Pascalli (Deer Park, N.Y./New York Bobcats), junior Tommy Telesca (Selden, N.Y./New York Bobcats) and sophomore Joey Gilhooly (Brooklyn, N.Y./New York Bobcats) each recorded a goal and an assist to lead Potsdam. Freshman goaltender Nate Skidmore (Syracuse, N.Y./Buffalo Jr. Sabres) recorded 21 saves for his second collegiate victory.
The Bears controlled the play from the outset and the pressure was rewarded with a man-advantage at 11:10 of the opening period. Less than a minute later, senior forward Jake Rivera (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) buried a feed from fellow senior forward Matt Thompson (Anchorage, Alaska/Kenai River Brown Bears) on the power play. Potsdam outshot the Golden Bears 11-6 in the opening 20 minutes and took the 1-0 lead into the locker room.
At 6:11 of the second period, Pascalli struck with a helper from Gilhooly to make it a 2-0 contest. Two minutes later, Telesca took advantage of a WNE miscue and beat former Potsdam goalie Austin Keiser for a shorthanded tally. At the 13:19 mark, Chris Lembo finally solved Skidmore to get the Golden Bears back within 3-1. The score was unchanged after two periods.
The Bears picked up the pressure again to start the final stanza. After Lembo was called for a cross-check, sophomore forward Dylan Vander Esch (San Jose, Calif./Hartford Wolfpack) made the WNE pay. The power-play goal came at 2:53 with assists from Pascalli and junior defenseman Nick Casacci (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./Connecticut Oilers). Gilhooly made it 5-1 at 7:02 with an even-strength tally on a helper from Telesca. The Golden Bears answered one final time at 13:45 on the power play as Josh Twietmeyer closed the scoring at 5-2.
Keiser stopped 30 shots against his former teammates. Potsdam outshot WNE 35-23 while going 2-for-5 on the man advantage. The Golden Bears were 1-for-4 on the power play.
The Bears are back home this Saturday night when they host No. 15 Utica College. Potsdam is 4-0 at Maxcy Ice Arena this season.
