POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (8-12-2, 4-10-1 ECAC West) battled the Neumann College Knights (12-6-4, 9-6-2) to a 2-2 draw in a Saturday afternoon ECAC West contest. The Bears got goals from junior captains Stephanie Simons (Stratford, Ontario/Bluewater Hawks) and Annmarie Lewis (Newmarket, Ontario/Aurora Panthers). Neumann’s goal scorers were junior defensemen Brittany Metcalfe (Grand Valley, Ontario) and Kayla Dubowski (Emeryville, Ontario/Windsor Wildcats).

Defense was the story of much of the first period as the teams limited scoring chances. Both teams did trade a few opportunities, but the goaltenders were sharp and the rebounds were cleared away. The offense picked up late in the period after each team received a power play opportunity. Both penalties were killed, but the Bears got on the board eight seconds after their power play. Simons beat Knights’ sophomore goalie Shannon Donnelly (Orleans, Ontario/Nepean Jr. Wildcats) to her left with a wrist shot at 16:24. Lewis recorded the lone assist. Neumann had a final flurry in the period, but trailed 1-0 after one.

The Knights came out strong in the second period, firing 18 shots on Potsdam goalie Jen Conophy (Glenmont, N.Y./Albany Ice Cats), but the sophomore withstood the charge, turning aside every one. Though being outshot, the Bears kept the scoring chances even and had several near misses, before finally breaking through for their second at 14:07. Simons fed junior forward Caitlin Manahan (St. Albans, Vt./Elmira College) in the corner and Manahan circled behind Neumann’s net before wrapping the puck around. Donnelly stopped the attempt, but Lewis was there to jam the rebound between her pads for a 2-0 lead. Again the Knights turned up the pressure late in the period, but Conophy kept them off the board heading into the second intermission.

The Knights continued the pressure in the third and struck on the power play at the 2:56 mark. Metcalfe stopped a Potsdam clearing attempt and fired a shot from the right point that beat a screened Conophy between the pads. At the 9:26 mark Dubowski picked up loose puck in the slot and lifted it over Conophy to knot the score at two. Neumann kept the Bear offense in check for much of the third, but Potsdam nearly won the game in the final 30 seconds of regulation. After an icing call the Bears won the draw in the Knight’s zone and fed the puck in front to freshman forward Jessica Silveira (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) and Silveira ripped it just wide of the right post.

Potsdam’s momentum carried over into the overtime period. The Bears outshot Neumann 5-2 in the extra five minutes, but couldn’t net the game-winner.

Conophy made 42 saves for Potsdam and Donnelly stopped 26 shots for the Knights. Neumann went 1-5 on the man advantage and the Bears were 0-3.

“We put together several good pass combinations throughout the game, but couldn’t get the final shot,” said Potsdam Head Coach Jay Green. “The effort was there, but they didn’t fall today. We scrapped for the goals we got, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll come up with a couple more.”

Green was impressed by the play of several of his players.

“No question Jen (Conophy) played extremely solid in net. I thought Jenn Crawford, Katie Komsa, and Breanna Roy each had great games. A lot of players had very good games today.”

The Bears finish the weekend series with the Knights at Maxcy Hall tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.