POTSDAM, N.Y.-Freshman goaltender Alex Pfeiffer (Sylvania, Ohio/Little Caesar’s) stopped all 22 shots she faced to lead the SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (1-0) to a 3-0 shutout of Saint Michael’s College (0-1) in its season opener. Junior forward Anna-Rose Bertin (Marathon, Ontario/Canadian International Hockey Academy), senior forward Jordan Ott (Hilton, N.Y./Rochester Edge) and sophomore forward Jenna Patterson (Boissevain, Manitoba/Westman Wildcats) each scored for the Bears. With her goal, Ott moved into a tie for second place on the program’s NCAA era all-time scoring list with 85 points (48-37).
The Purple Knights were aggressive early. The pressure resulted in five of the first six shots of the game. Pfeiffer was sharp and kept them off the board. Three of the chances came on Saint Michael’s first power play, but Potsdam successfully killed it off. Less than a minute later, the Bears went on their own power play. No goal resulted, but the momentum shifted in Potsdam’s favor. The Bears went on the man advantage again at 12:09 and this time made the Knights pay. Just 22 seconds later, Bertin wristed a shot over Saint Michael’s senior goalie Abby Burke (Bedford, Mass./The Rivers School) to make it 1-0. Sophomore defenseman Nicole Watson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Colorado Selects) started the play on the right point, feeding freshman defenseman Delphine Léonard (Montreal, Quebec/Dawson College Prep) at the left point. Senior forward Jordan Ott (Hilton, N.Y./Rochester Edge) doubled the advantage almost three minutes later. Freshman defenseman Shelbi Thacker (Chesterfield, Mich./Honeybaked) sent a long pass ahead to Ott to clear the zone. Ott fired from the right faceoff circle to make it 2-0 at 15:14.
The teams combined for seven power plays in the second period, four for Potsdam and three for Saint Michael’s. The Bears outshot the Knights 12-8 in the second period. At times, Potsdam swarmed the SMC net, but couldn’t pad its advantage. The score remained 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.
The third period saw five more penalties, but only an even-strength goal was added to the contest’s total. The Bears killed off two penalties and the Knights killed three. Potsdam outshot SMC 12-8 in the third period. With just 46 seconds left on the clock, Watson fired just wide right of the Knight’s goal. The puck bounced right to Patterson and she jammed it home to make it 3-0. Junior forward Brenna Wilson (Kanata, Ontario/Ottawa Senators) also assisted on the play.
Burke finished with 33 saves for the Purple Knights.
Potsdam outshot SMC 36-22 and was 1-for-7 on the power play. The Knights were 0-8.
The two teams go at it again tomorrow afternoon in South Burlington at 4 p.m.
