Ephs improve to 3-0 with 3-2 win over Potsdam; play host Skidmore tomorrow for tourney title

Box Score

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The Williams men's ice hockey team (3-0-0) opened up the Skidmore Invitational Tournament this evening with a gritty 3-2 win over the SUNY Potsdam Bears (2-4-2).

The last time Potsdam was on the ice they tied the top-ranked team in Division III, SUNY Plattsburgh (4-4).

The Ephs came out flying and lit the red light twice in the game's first 4:06, but it was a long hard road to keep Potsdam down and net the game-winner late in the third period.

Alex Smigelski converted a pass from Matt Masucci at 3:47 to open the scoring and just 25 seconds later the Ephs doubled their margin when Ryan Young scored. Young's tally came at 4:06 and was assisted by Andrew Lepore and Octavian Jordan.

Though out shot 14-9 in the opening 20 minutes the Ephs took a 2-0 lead into the first break.

In the second period the Ephs surrendered a goal at 6:17 to Sy Nutkevitch, before victimizing themselves with two men in the box a little over a minute later. The Bears of Potsdam were able to capitalize on their 6 on 4 advantage at 7:35 when Fraser Smith scored to tie the game at 2.

When the teams headed to the locker rooms for the second break the game was knotted at 2 and Potsdam had a nearly doubled the Ephs in shots, 26-14

Fifty-five minutes after scoring their second goal of the game, the Ephs got the game-winner on an unassisted goal by senior forward Brett Haraguchi with just 31 seconds remaining in the third period.

"We disrupted our flow by taking too many penalties in the game," said Eph head coach Bill Kangas. "It was a pretty good up and down game when we were not in the box. When we gave up the 2-0 lead we had to scramble. I was pleased though with how our guys battled. We talk a lot about staying positive and being persistent and that was key tonight."

Potsdam out shot the Ephs by a 40-22 margin on the night and part of that was due to the Ephs giving the Bears nine power play opportunities. The Ephs' Marc Pulde stopped 38 of 40 shots to improve 3-0-0 on the year, while the Bears' Trevor O'Neill stopped 19 of 22 Eph attempts and fell to 0-3-1 on the year.

"Marc Pulde played another strong game in goal for us," noted Kangas, "but a lot of credit also goes to the guys in front of him who were blocking shots with their bodies and clearing the puck well."

With the Ephs win over Potsdam and host Skidmore downing Suffolk University 2-1, Williams will face Skidmore for the tourney title tomorrow at 4:00 PM.

Looking ahead to tomorrow's championship game vs. Skidmore Kangas said, "Skidmore is a good team that is well-coached. We'll have to be ready to play 60 consistent minutes to get the win. In the regular season we always talk about 4-point weekends, but this weekend is a little different. We got the first one today and now we can come out of here with a trophy and I think our guys will come ready to play."