CORTLAND, NY –
Nathan Garnier (Laval, QC/Cornwall Colts) scored three goals and added an assist to spark the Cortland men's hockey team to a 6-2 home victory over Potsdam in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Friday evening in Alumni Arena. Cortland improves to 5-4-1 (3-1-1 SUNYAC), while Potsdam drops to 4-5-0 (1-3-0 SUNYAC).
Garnier's three goals give him five on the season to tie for the team lead.
Morley Phillips (Raleigh, NC/Amarillo Wranglers) chipped in a goal and an assist, and
Charlie Merkley (Fairport/Corpus Christi IceRays) chipped in two assists.
Stephen Kyrkostas (Selden/Johnstown Tomahawks) and
Thomas Rockey (Mullica Hill, NJ/Rochester Jr. Americans) each scored a goal for Cortland.
Shane Shelest (Pointe-Claire, QC/Wellington Dukes) made 22 saves in goal to earn his third victory of the season.
Jakub Hall scored both of Potsdam's goals, with four different players providing an assist for the Bears. Lenny Perno started in goal and made 17 saves and allowed three goals in 31:21 of action before departing due to injury. Luciano Chinappi played the remainder of the game, making 12 saves.
Cortland got on the board first with under seven minutes remaining in the first period. Phillips won a battle for the puck along the left wall in the Cortland offensive zone and fed a pass to Garnier. Garnier slid the puck to
Nick Serio (Bayville/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders) at the blue line and skated towards the right side of the Potsdam goal. Serio skated in towards goal, before making a swift pass to Garnier for a quick shot low and past Perno to make it 1-0.
The Bears took advantage of a Cortland tripping penalty to tie the score at 1-1 with under four minutes left in the frame and send the game deadlocked into intermission, as Hall knocked in his own rebound in front of goal for Potsdam.
Six minutes into the second period, Phillips knocked in a rebound from in close after Perno was able to partially stop Merkley's shot from the left faceoff circle to give the Red Dragons a 2-1 lead. Garnier was credited with the secondary assist on the goal from a feed below the goal line.
Hall netted his second goal of the game off a rebound after a shot from the left point was blocked by a Cortland defender in front of goal to tie the game again just before the midway point of the period.
Not to be outdone by Hall, Garnier reestablished Cortland's lead by scoring his second goal of the game off a rebound from the left side of goal after
Nate Boak's (Canton/El Paso Rhinos) one-timer from the blue line was saved by Perno. Merkley earned his second assist of the game with a secondary assist on the goal.
Perno appeared to be shaken up after the goal, and was replaced by Chinappi for Potsdam. The Red Dragons gave the sophomore a rude welcome by scoring on the first shot on goal that he faced. Cortland executed a 3-on-2 break down the left side, with
Colby Seitz (Eden/Corpus Christi IceRays) finding
Conor Humphrey (Penfield/Rochester Jr. Americans) at the right post. Humphrey's redirection struck the right post, but Rockey was able to pounce on the rebound for his fourth goal of the season.
Cortland made it 5-2 in the final seconds of the second period, as Garnier completed his hat trick with a power-play goal with 6.1 seconds left in the frame on another rebound.
JC Humphreys (Canonsburg, PA/Rochester Jr. Americans) was denied in front of goal by Chinappi after a feed from
Sam Christiano (Buffalo/Buffalo Jr. Sabres), but Garnier was in perfect position to flip a backhand into the right side of the net for the goal.
Kyrkostas completed the scoring for the Red Dragons with 2:04 remaining in the third period with his second goal of the year. He collected the puck in his own defensive zone after an errant pass from Potsdam, skated behind his goal and fed
Devlin O'Kane (Chicago, IL/New Jersey 87's) down the right side. O'Kane was checked by a Potsdam skater but was able to chip the puck up the ice to Kyrkostas, who skated around a defender and slid a shot through the legs of the Potsdam goalie.
