POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam men’s hockey team (5-4, 4-4 SUNYAC) rallied from a two-goal deficit before falling to Oswego State (8-1-2, 6-0-2) 6-4 in a SUNYAC contest on Saturday night. Laker junior forward Tyler Leimbrock and Bears freshman forward Trevor Cope each had two goals.

Oswego grabbed a 1-0 lead just 4:37 into the game as junior forward John Whitelaw tipped a shot from junior forward Paul Rodrigues between the pads of Bears freshman goaltender Dylan Ellis. At the 7:08 mark junior defenseman Taylor Farris rang the crossbar after the Lakers won a faceoff in the Potsdam zone. Two and a half minutes later, the Bears capitalized on a five-on-three advantage. Sophomore forward Adam Place floated a pass across the crease and Cope ripped it into the open net to cut the lead to 2-1. With just over five minutes remaining freshman forward Eli Kim-Swallow beat Ellis on a shot from the point.

The Bears rallied in the second period. At the 10:46 mark, freshman defenseman Max Fogel scored his first collegiate goal on a shot from the point that eluded Oswego junior goaltender Daniel Jones. Four minutes later Cope roofed a shot over Jones from the slot to tie the game at 3-3. The goal chased Jones from the net and he was replaced by junior goalie Andrew Hare. Leimbrock put the Lakers back in front for good with an unassisted tally at 16:11.

Leimbrock got his second with under five minutes remaining to give Oswego a 5-3 advantage. Just over a minute later Potsdam freshman defenseman Erick Ware cut the lead back to one. With 1:05 on the clock, the Bears pulled Ellis for an extra attacker, but Laker junior forward Chris Muise iced the game with an empty-net goal.

Ellis finished with 47 saves. Jones stopped 12 shots and allowed three goals in 34:56. Hare got the win, allowing just one goal and making 11 saves in 25:04. Potsdam was 2-5 on the power play and Oswego went 1-4.

“We don’t play for pride in this league, we play for points,” said Potsdam Head Coach Chris Bernard. “That being said, we got huge contributions from everybody in the lineup and nobody quit. There were points in the game where we needed saves to keep us in it and Dylan made them. I thought we played a gutsy game against a high talent opponent.”

The Bears play their final game before winter break at Utica on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.