RUTLAND, Vt. – Potsdam and Buffalo State each emerged victorious after the opening round of the 2011 Rutland Herald Invitational Women's Hockey Tournament hosted by Castleton State College Friday evening at the Spartan Arena. Potsdam downed Plymouth State 4-1 in the opener, while Buffalo State defeated host Castleton 3-2 in the nightcap. Castleton and Plymouth State will square off in the third place game tomorrow at 1:00, while Potsdam and Buffalo State meet for the title at 4:00.

Buffalo State 3, Castleton 2

Senior forward Marissa McMullan (Haileybury, Ontario) scored two goals including the game-winner to lift Buffalo St. over Castleton, 3-2, in the opening round of the third annual Rutland Herald Invitational (RHI) on Friday night at Spartan Arena.

The Bengals improve to 7-6 overall on the season. The Spartans fall to 3-6-1 overall.

McMullan put Buffalo St. on the scoreboard late in the first period at 16:02 with her fifth goal of the season beating Castleton netminder Katharyn Dembowski (Elkridge, Md.) for a 1-0 advantage. Lauren Mallo (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Courtney Carnes (Winslow, Maine) assisted on the tally.

In the second, Christine Williams (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) gave Buffalo St. a 2-0 lead almost off the opening faceoff scoring her eighth goal of the season 44 seconds into period.

McMullan followed at 6:58 with her second goal of the game, and sixth on the season, on assists by Carnes and Mallo for a 3-0 lead.

On the power play at 17:12, junior defensemen Kaitlin Hayes (Burlington, Vt.) cut into the deficit at 3-1 blasting home a shot past Bengals' goaltender Alyssa Koniar (New Berlin, Wisc.) on feeds from Jade Werger (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and Sterling Nelson (Madison, Conn.).

In the third, Hayes netted her second goal of the game – fourth of the season – at 17:14 but the Spartans' rally fell just short at 3-2. Freshman forward Stephanie Bardell (Erwinna, Pa.) and Laura Szwed (White Lake, Mich.) had assists on the score.

Koniar (7-5-0) made 24 saves in the win including 14 in the second period while Dembowski (1-3-1) turned away 23 shots.