BUFFALO, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men's hockey team (6-14-1, 3-9 SUNYAC) rallied for a brief 2-1 lead before falling to Buffalo State 3-2 on Saturday night. Sophomore Ken Simon and junior assistant captain Mike Arnold each scored for the Bears.

Mike Zannella opened the scoring at the 9:19 mark of the first period, giving the Bengals a 1-0 lead. Simon answered for Potsdam six minutes later with assists from junior forward Zach Blake and freshman forward Todd Thomas. Buffalo State outshot the Bears 10-6 in the first period.

Arnold put Potsdam in front just 2:30 into the second period. Sophomore forward Dan McCamey and sophomore defenseman Max Fogel assisted on the goal. Nearly 10 minutes later, Trevor McKinney knotted the score at 2-2. At the 15:50 mark, Brett Hope received a five minute-major and a game misconduct for contact to the head. The Bears were able to get pressure on Bengals goaltender Kevin Carr, but were unable to regain the lead. The shots were even at 9-9 in the middle stanza.

At 4:24 of the final period, Taylor McGraw, who scored the game-winner in last year's playoff meeting, did it again. Potsdam couldn't get the equalizer on one more power play and killed off two more penalties. With 1:24 remaining, the Bears pulled freshman goalie Austin Keiser for an extra attacker before falling 3-2.

Keiser finished with 26 saves and Carr stopped 23 shots to earn the victory. Potsdam was 0-5 on the man advantage and the Bengals went 0-4.

The game marks the end of the Bears 13-game road trip. They return to the friendly confines of Massena Arena for their final four regular season contests. Next Friday, Potsdam hosts Brockport at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Geneseo invades for an 8 p.m. faceoff.