Score: SUNY Potsdam 5, Elmira College 3
Records: SUNY Potsdam (6-1-1), Elmira (3-5-1)
Location: Murray Athletic Center – Pine Valley, N.Y.
 
PINE VALLEY, N.Y. -- A pair of goals by second-year winger Nick Ford '20 and a 37-35 lead in shots were not enough tonight, as the Elmira College men's ice hockey team dropped a 5-3 decision at the Murray Athletic Center to a surging SUNY Potsdam squad. Ford was one of two multi-point producers this evening, as Connor Powell '20 added a career-high three assists.
 
An indirect contact to the head penalty on Potsdam's Ben Mariano at 9:05 put the Soaring Eagles on the power play, which they converted on at the 10:18 mark of the first period thanks to a one-timer by Elmira's leading scorer, Ford. A pair of precise passes by Powell and Ryan Blais '21 created space for Ford at the left point, where he rifled the puck past a screened Nate Skidmore for the game-opening score.
 
Elmira's lead remained intact for just over six minutes until Kyle Thacker knotted the game at one apiece with his first goal of the season at 16:42. A rush set up the scoring play, as did a pair of shots that sent Jake Sabourin '21 scrambling in the crease, at which point Thacker cleaned up the loose puck and dumped it into the open net for the easy score. Nate Zweig and Mike Sweeney were credited with assists on the goal, which sent the teams into the first intermission deadlocked at 1-1.
 
Ford put the Purple and Gold back on top just five minutes into the second stanza by scoring his 10th goal of the season, a total that matched his entire freshman year output. A shot from the point by Blake O'Neill '19 caromed off of Powell's skate and to a wide open Ford on the left post, where he routinely buried the shot for the go-ahead goal.
 
However, a pair of Potsdam tallies 1:34 apart late in the period allowed the Bears to take their first lead of the game with 3:13 remaining in the period. Anthony Merante and Sweeney were Potsdam's goal scorers, while Jon Venter, Thacker and Dylan Vander Esch were credited with assists.
 
The Bears maintained their lead into the third frame, but Elmira's power play cashed in on its third opportunity of the evening on an extra-skater goal from Matthew Cuce '20 at 8:23. A pass from the point by Powell placed Spencer MacLean '20 with the puck in the slot, where he snapped a hard shot that was padded away by Skidmore. However, the rebound bounced out to the right-side of the ice where Cuce was there to one-time it into the open net for the game-tying goal.
 
It looked as though Cuce's goal was going to force overtime, but a second-chance effort by Vander Esch with 51 seconds left on the clock allowed Potsdam to reclaim its lead at 4-3. An unmarked Vander Esch cleaned up a rebound and backhanded the puck over Sabourin's shoulder for the go-ahead score. Thacker and Tyler Young picked up assists on the eventual game-winning goal.
 
The Bears added an empty-net tally from Joey Sollazzo, assisted by Young and Sean Kacerosky, with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to all but seal Potsdam's 5-3 victory.
 
EC's Sabourin finished the contest with 30 saves in 59:46 of work between the pipes. Of his 30 stops, 13 came in the second period. His counterpart from Potsdam, Skidmore, made 34 saves and also stopped 13 shots in the second stanza.
 
News and Notes

• Elmira tied its season-high power-play goal output with a pair of extra-skater tallies tonight.
• Powell's three assists and three points were a career best.
• Ford scored his NCAA Division III-leading 10th goal of the season.
• It was also Ford's second multi-goal game of the season.
• Ford has scored a goal in six of Elmira's nine games this year.
• Ford matched his entire 2016-17 goal output with 10 goals through EC's first nine contests of the season.
• Rob Simpson '16 coached in his first game against his alma mater (Elmira) at the Murray Athletic Center.  

 
Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return to action this Saturday, November 25, when they host the No. 4/4-ranked Knights of SUNY Geneseo. The non-conference tilt is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. at the Murray Athletic Center.