Fredonia scored three goals in each period to defeat Potsdam, 9-1.
Billy Sanborn and Bryan Ross each got a hat trick, and Mark Friesen made 34 saves.
“We needed that,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “I still think we are a work in progress. We stayed out of the box, which has been a problem issue with us.”
Fredonia jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the first period was half over, with Sanborn scoring the first two.
It got started at 2:58 when Sanborn, on the right side, held onto the puck just long enough to fool Dylan Ellis before wristing it in for the goal.
Sanborn doubled the score on Fredonia’s first power play at 4:22. Ross made a nice fake before dishing it off to Sanborn, who fired it in.
Ross got his own goal at 9:13, taking advantage of confusion among the Potsdam defenders, who failed to clear the puck. He picked up the loose puck, beating Ellis short side to make it 3-0.
Potsdam finally got on the scoreboard with 2.1 seconds left in the period. They had a quick developing three-on-two, which almost broke down when they entered the zone. However, the Bears recovered, and the centering pass was redirected on a backhand by Nick Avgerinos past Mark Friesen.
Potsdam had plenty of opportunities to keep pace with Fredonia, but Friesen made one tough save after another to keep his team in control.
“He was just average yesterday,” Meredith said. “He spent the afternoon honing in mentally and come game time, he was ready to play. He made two glove saves and a pad save that were lights out saves.”
Fredonia scored another three goals in the second period to take a commanding 6-1 lead.
Ross got his second of the night at 5:04. A loose puck came out to him in the slot, and he easily beat Ellis.
Two minutes later, Ellis lost track of the puck behind him. Despite recovering enough to make two saves on jam-in attempts, the third by Brian Doust finally made its way in.
At this point, Bernard pulled Ellis, replacing him with Kevin McFarland.
Sanborn got the hat trick at 14:35 without putting the puck in the net. It was knocked in by Potsdam defender Brett Waters. Sanborn touched it last, so he got credit for the goal.
With six minutes left in the game, Fredonia got its second power-play goal of the night. Mat Hehr put it in when McFarland was unable to hold onto the puck. He argued he had control, but the referee did not agree.
A few minutes later, John O’Connor fired a quick shot which McFarland wasn’t ready for to make it 8-1. It was the junior’s first collegiate goal.
Ross got his hat trick to wrap up the scoring with 26 seconds left on a two-man advantage power play. Ross ripped a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.
“I can’t remember the last time we had a hat trick, let alone two hat tricks,” Meredith said “Those are two of our captains. For guys like that, we need those guys doing those things.”
Fredonia (2-2-1, 4-2-1) stays home next weekend, playing Oswego and Cortland.
Potsdam (1-3-0, 2-3-0) returns home to face Geneseo and Brockport.
