BUFFALO, N.Y.—Freshman
Vadim Vasjonkin (Tallinn, Estonia) tallied two goals and an assist to lead nationally-No. 15 ranked and third-seeded Buffalo State to a 4-3 victory over visiting sixth-seeded Potsdam tonight in a SUNYAC quarterfinal matchup.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: #15 Buffalo State – 4, Potsdam - 3
LOCATION: Ice Arena - Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (17-6-3), Potsdam (10-11-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Zach Nieminen (Ajax, ON/Notre Dame CSS) opened the scoring for the Bengals with his 10th of the season on the power-play with assists from Reid Bibb (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg) and Vasjonkin late in the opening period.
- Potsdam evened the score with a power-play tally of its own five minutes into the second period.
- Vasjonkin answered for the Bengals just 47 seconds later however, ripping a shot from a sharp angle on the left wing to the back of the net for his eighth of his rookie campaign. Michael Anthony Guerrera (Montreal, QC/OHA) and Ben Butcher (Bellingham, WA/Langley) were credited with the assists.
- Buffalo State extended the lead to 3-1 before the second intermission. Skating 4-on-4, Mac Wood (Simcoe, ON/SCS) pushed a neutral zone faceoff forward and raced past the Bears' defenders before feeding a streaking Zach Remers (Clarence, NY/Canisius) who made no mistake for his eight goal of the season.
- Buffalo State extended its lead when Vasjonkin potted his second of the game and ninth of the season from Guerrera and Ben Butcher (Bellingham, WA/Langley) with eight minutes into the third period.
- Potsdam responded with a second power-play goal of the game just over a minute later and then cut margin to just one with 1:50 remaining.
- The Bengals and goalie Ian Sylves (Sloan, NY/JFK) closed the door from there to seal the victory.
- Sylves finished with 28 saves as Potsdam finished with a 31-30 edge in shots on goal.
- Potsdam was 2 for 5 on the power play, while Buffalo State finished 1 for 4
FOR THE FOES
- Senior Dylan Vander Esch led Potsdam with two goals and an assist, closing his career with 101 career points.
- Kyle Thacker also scored, and Brendan McMenimen finished with 26 saves.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will next travel to face No. 2 Geneseo on Saturday at 7 p.m. for its seventh-consecutive SUNYAC semifinal appearance.