Men's Hockey Earn First Win vs. Union

Lake Placid, NY ~ The Paul Smith's College mens' hockey team earned their first win of the season and first win in program history against Union College on Sunday, beating the Garnet 7-5 in an Upstate New York Club Hockey League (UNYCHL) East Division showdown. 

The Bobcats conceded two goals early in the first period before Hazen Stoufer (East Montpelier, VT) buried his second goal of the season on a nice set play off the faceoff from Larry Parece (Woburn, MA) and Kyle Davis (Canandaigua, NY). 

The second period was dominated by the Bobcats as they used the long change to their advantage.  After Union made it 3-1 two minutes into the middle frame, Attila Quesnel (Montreal, QC, Canada) buried his first of the day on a nice pass from sophomore assistant captain Colin Palmer (Clifton Park, NY).  Quesnel would then return the favor, assisting Palmer's shot from the point on the power play that found the back of the net.  Omar Uqdah (North Adams, MA) also added an assist on the goal.  Union would get one more to go up 4-3 but senior forward River Yearwood (Bethesda, MD) would beat the Garnet goaltender high on his glove side on a breakaway which was set up by a beautiful breakout from Stoufer and Parece who picked up assists on the play.  Freshman defenseman Caden Engle (Clinton, NY) then put the Bobcats up 5-4 with 4:45 left in the second period on a blast from the point which beat the keeper, assisted by Palmer. 

The Bobcats got into penalty trouble late in the second, but fantastic 5-on-4 and 5-on-3 penalty kills preserved the one goal lead going into the final period.  Zach Thoren (Raleigh, NC), Ryen Janus (Frederick, MD), Mike Hansen (New Hartford, NY), Dylan Jannarone (Brick, NJ), Foster Wood (Lake Placid, NY), Hunter Erwin (Kenai, AK), Joe Beaudoin (East Falmouth, MA), Kyle Davis, Colin Palmer, and Hazen Stoufer all contributed to the 3+ minute penalty kill that resulted in no goals against in the waning minutes of the second period.

Union made it 5-5 4:36 into the third, but a textbook cross-ice seam pass by Quesnel on the power play found Davis who one-timed a slapshot just under the crossbar, giving the Bobcats the 6-5 lead with 9:13 left to play.  Kevin Zamazal (Opava, Czechia) also assisted on the play with a perfectly executed stretch pass to Quesnel, which was a near replica of his first assist in the first game of the year against Hofstra.  Quesnel would then bury an empty netter with 24 seconds remaining, icing the game for the Bobcats. 

"What an amazing team performance," said Paul Smith's College men's hockey coach Casey Gerrish.  "There are still some things we need to work on, but it feels good to get the first win out of the way.  We have dominated and outshot every team in every game we've played so far this year and lost a couple early in OT, so this really helps us turn the momentum around – the boys can feel the energy shift and there's a lot of excitement moving forward in the season," he added.

Zamazal stopped 15 of 16 shots faced in the third period, effectively shutting the door on Union to preserve the win.  He stopped 38 of 43 shots in the game, and with two assists on the season he leads all goaltenders in AAU College Hockey in that stat category. 

The Bobcats head to central New York this weekend where they will play a couple of AAU Division I teams (Cornell on Friday and Cortland on Sunday) while also taking on Jefferson CC on Saturday in another UNYCHL East Division matchup.

You can follow the men's hockey team on Instagram at @pschockey or follow the general athletics account at @smitty_nation for scores, updates, schedules, and much more.

At Paul Smith's College, it's about the experience. As the only four-year institution of higher education located in the Adirondack Park in upstate New York, Paul Smith's provides real-world, hands-on learning in fields such as business and hospitality, culinary management, forestry, environmental sciences, and natural resources. We can draw on industries and resources available in our backyard while preparing students for successful careers anywhere. Our community of resourceful, enterprising, supportive, and adventurous individuals collectively provides experiential education, student support in the classroom and beyond, and meaningful opportunities for our alumni. We pride ourselves on research and advocacy on issues that improve our planet and the lives of the people who inhabit it. Learn more at www.paulsmiths.edu.