Lake Placid, NY – Josh Sova (Oswego, NY) and Eric Witzel (Ottawa, ON) combined for six points as the SUNY Canton men's hockey team got off to a quick start en route to a 5-2 win against Skidmore College on Friday evening at Herb Brooks Arena.
 
The Roos opened the scoring 2:08 into the contest when Sova hit Kasey Kulczycki (Laval, QUE) with a backdoor pass as he put the Roos on top early on the power play. Brandon McMartin (Toronto, ON) was also credited with an assist.
 
Just more than two minutes later Sova changed roles slotting his first goal of the season off the set up from Nick Lepone (Richmondhill, ON). The sophomore from Oswego added his second of the game at the 14:09 mark off a pass from Witzel to give the Roos a 3-0 lead at the first intermission. The Roos held an 11-4 shots on goal edge in the opening 20 minutes.Skidmore got on the board 4:11 into the middle period off a faceoff win to the point. Andreas Michailidis fired a one timer that top shelf over the stick side of Roo goaltender Josh Erickson (Woodbury, MN). Marc Cibelli was credited with a helper on the goal. The Thoroughbreds added a second goal in just over a two-minute span when Anthony Bird put home the puck in front off a scrum. Kenny Nelson and Max Hegge earned assists on the play.
 
With seven minutes left in the second period Bird skated in alone on a breakaway for a possible shorthanded goal to tie the game, but Erickson shut the door to keep the Roos on top.
 
The Roos responded with a crucial goal with just 1:05 to play in the second. George Curry (Schaumburg, IL) picked off a pass near the blue line and dished a pass to Kyle Matsumoto (Walnut, CA) who sniped a shot top shelf to give SUNY Canton a 4-2 lead heading to second intermission.
 
Erickson made 12 stops in net for the Roos, while Jack McDonald made 20 saves for the Thoroughbreds.
 
The men's hockey team will return to the Roos House for its home opener on Saturday night v. Plattsburgh State at 7 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the SUNY Canton Athletics department by "liking" us on Facebook and "following" our Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts.

About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses, as well as 10 exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 14 athletic teams compete as provisional members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.