POTSDAM, N.Y. - The Potsdam women's hockey team (1-0) started off another season with a 4-1 victory over the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights (0-1) at Maxcy Ice Arena on Friday night. Sophomore forward Alexis Clark (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) scored twice for the Bears and junior forward Miranda Kolb (Watertown, N.Y./SUNY Cortland) and freshman forward Stephanie Dunlap (Bath, Mich./Meijer U19 AAA) also scored. Junior goalie Alexa Pfeiffer (Sylvania, Ohio/Little Caesar's) finished with 21 saves in her 14th career victory. The Purple Knights were unable to take advantage of their power plays (0-for-6) and it proved to be essential in the contest.
The first goal of the season for the Bears came at the 4:41 mark the first period from junior Kolb. Junior forward Lucy Condon (Waterloo, Ontario/Waterloo Ravens) and sophomore forward Allie Banas (Buffalo, N.Y./Buffalo Bisons) each assisted on the goal. Dunlap followed up with her first collegiate goal after a breakaway in transition on a shot from the top left circle. The Purple Knights trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Coming out of the break, Saint Michael's wasted no time, scoring just 18 seconds into the second period. After the Purple Knights won the opening faceoff, junior forward Jordan Monbouqette (Wayland, Mass./Lawrence Anthony) cut the lead in half. The Bears answered with a goal of their own after killing off a Saint Michael's power play. Sophomore forward Alexis Clark (Niagara Falls, NY/Buffalo Bisons) scored a goal that was assisted by junior defender Shelbi Thacker (Chesterfield, Mich./Honeybaked) at the 8:46 mark. After the goal, the two teams played evenly throughout the remainder of the second period with five and seven shots each. and Potsdam took their 3-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes of action.
Potsdam added a fourth goal at the 11:53 mark of the third period. After a faceoff, Potsdam gained possession and Kolb dished the puck to the left circle through a crowd of jerseys, and Clark was there to score quickly before senior goalie Nicole Talcott (Colchester, Vt./Rice Memorial Prep) could react and the Bears cemented the 4-1 victory.
Talcott had 26 saves. Potsdam outshot Saint Michael's 30-22 and was 2-for-6 on the power play.
The Bears will go on the road tomorrow for a rematch against Saint Michael's at Cairns Arena in South Burlington at 4 p.m.