The night couldn’t have been captured any better than Morrisville State captain, Jamie Nelson (Stratford, Ontario) posting the game winner with a mere 1.2 seconds remaining in the sudden victory period to lift host Morrisville State College over visiting SUNY Potsdam by a 5-4 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) final on a night that was meant to serve as something more, an awareness and fundraising campaign for Autism, organized by Nelson.
The victory lifts the Mustangs to 2-15-2 overall, 2-8 in conference play. Potsdam drops to 6-10-1, 3-6 in the SUNYAC.
Potsdam struck early, netting the first tally of the night just 1:24 in. Billy Pascalli found Kenny Simon for the one-timer over the shoulder of Morrisville State goaltender, Christopher Azzano (Oshawa, Ontario).
Nearly 10 minutes later and with two seconds remaining on a power play opportunity, defenseman Daniel Morello (Vaughan, Ontario) slid the puck over to Anthony Scornaienchi (Stoney Creek, Ontario) who fired a slap shot from the blue line through Bear netminder Austin Keiser for the tying tally.
Morrisville took the 2-1 lead on a Ryan Marcuz (Richmond Hill, Ontario) score that deflected off the pads of Keiser. Nelson and Tyson Avery (Monkton, Ontario) registered the assists.
Within minutes, the game again was even, as Zach Blake posted the score for Potsdam at the 17:17 mark.
In a contest that saw scores trade back and forth in the first period, the second frame was no different. Tied at two after the opening stanza, Zach Bayer (Glendale, Az.) posted his first collegiate tally on a breakaway pass from Nelson just 19 seconds into the second period for a 3-2 Morrisville State lead, and less than two minutes later, Erick Ware posted a power play tally for Potsdam, knotting it for the third time of the night.
Potsdam regained the one goal lead late in the period, as Adam Place collected the puck off a Mustang turnover at the blue line and sent it past Azzano for the 4-3 advantage after two.
Three minutes into the third, Steve Dol (Ingersoll, Ontario) notched a tally to pull the Mustangs even at four. Potsdam had the chance to take the lead with 4:06 to go with a one versus goaltender opportunity, but a quick glove by Jakob Rasmussen (Vallentuna, Sweden) who replaced starter Azzano in the third, kept the Bears at bay, forcing the overtime period.
In the extra frame, both teams had plenty of opportunities, but a major penalty by the Bears with 3:44 to go proved to be critical as the Mustangs would play out on the power play. Keiser withstood the Morrisville State offensive blitz on net turning away six in overtime alone, but persistence in front of the net by the Mustang forward line, found Nelson tipping in the puck with 1.2 seconds remaining for the win.
Azzano tallied 17 saves on the night in 40 minutes of play before being replaced by Rasmussen who collected the win, making 11 total stops, eight in the third period.
Keiser finished with 42 saves as Morrisville State held the 47-32 advantage in shots.
Morrisville State returns to the ice Friday, hosting Buffalo State at 7 p.m. at the IcePlex.