By: Travis Firkins
Cortland N.Y. – Cortland’s offense shined bright, but Potsdam’s goaltending shined even brighter as the Red Dragons fell 4-2 last Friday Night.
Aided by 46 saves from goalie John Weber the Bears were able to skate out of Alumni Arena with the upset win.
“That was probably one of the best games we have ever seen him play,” said Werber’s parents who were in attendance. “He’s had a couple performances like that this year but he dialed it up to a new level tonight.”
The loss was one that Cortland would have to shake off and move on from as they had another conference foe in Plattsburgh to deal with on Saturday.
“That loss to Potsdam is the type where you just have to tip your cap and move on,” said Nick Harper, an assistant coach for the Red Dragons. “We did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. We took that with us and moved on and got the win the next day.”
Cortland quickly rebounded as they knocked off Plattsburgh 6-2 on Saturday night. Cortland once again peppered the opposing goaltender this time putting up 36 shots on goal and netting one power play goal.
“That type of bounce back performance is really important for this team,” said Al Sofalvi, an avid fan of Cortland hockey and retired professor from SUNY Cortland. “If they want to make a run like last year you have to be able to respond. Last night was a tough loss for them to take but you wouldn’t know it from today’s play.”
Cortland is coming off a dream season that saw them capture the SUNYAC title and a playoff berth in the NCAA tournament. There was a lot to look forward to for the Red Dragons this season.
There was also plenty of work to be done for this year’s squad as they lost 7 seniors from the previous year’s team. Cortland was able to reload at the start of the season with a pair of convincing road victories to kick off the season.
The Red Dragons looked to build off of last year’s playoff appearance with a variety of nationally ranked opponents on their out of conference schedule. The first of these matchups came on Nov. 8 at home against then No. 2 ranked Adrian Bulldogs.
Cortland played well in the first half of the game and at one point held a 3-1 lead. However that quickly dissipated and they ultimately fell 5-3 allowing 4 straight unanswered goals.
“That game kind of served as a wakeup call for us and really made clear what we needed to fix if we want to be on the national stage again this season,” said Harper. “We know that we are more than capable of making a run similar to last years. We learned a lot from that game and I think that shows with how the season has gone since.”
Cortland has indeed turned the page on that loss and since then have knocked off three separate nationally ranked opponents, including conference rival No. 13 Plattsburgh by a score of 3-1 on Nov. 22.
Cortland’s record sat at 7-3 overall and 4-1 in conference at the end of the first semester and they looked to keep the strong start rolling when the squad returned back from winter break.
They were able to do just that as they squeaked past No. 10 ranked Wilkes on Jan. 6 to kick off the second half schedule. Coming into the home stretch of the regular season Cortland sits at 16-6 and has clinched a spot in the SUNYAC tournament.
Cortland has only 3 more regular season games left before SUNYAC playoffs begin on Feb. 26 including their final home game of the season on Feb 15 against the Kangaroos of SUNY Canton.