OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s team hosted undefeated Elmira college from the empire 8 conference on Tuesday night. This game was a highly defensive affair as both teams only had 6 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes of the game. A poor throw in by Oswego led to a free kick in the 21st minute as Gavin Wise of Elmira pressured a lakers defender trying to receive the throw. A lakers player then tried to redirect the ball to his teammate but Lutho Mlunguza of Elmira intercepted it and quickly got the ball to Wise up the field. As Wise tried to settle the pass, Ryan Contreras of the lakers stepped across and sent Wise to the ground. The referee would then give Elmira a free kick that Mlunguza would kick into the top left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. The Lakers would push hard the rest of the game to fight back as they out shot Elmira College 13 to 4 in the second half. The Lakers had their best shot with just 25 seconds left in the game when Oswego’s Ha Joon Lee blasted a shot from around 20 yards out that forced Elmira goalie Zachary Raffino into a full length dive to his right. The ball fell inside of the box with Laker Kyle Gehnrich given a chance to tie but was stopped with a great save by Raffino. Raffino would end the game with 5 saves as the Lakers fell 1-0.
The Lakers are now 2-3 this season. Their next game will be when they host Fredonia September 17th at 1:00 as their SUNYAC opener.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMANTHA KEANEY, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Progress Report: Oswego State men’s hockey
OSWEGO, N.Y. — After last night’s contest in Rochester, the Oswego State men’s hockey team has completed twelve games prior to the turn of the New Year. After six SUNYAC games and five nonconference games, the Lakers find themselves with a overall record of 8-3-1. The Lakers head into Christmas Break on a five game win streak. Oswego State also posts a stellular away record which features six wins and only one lost along with a tie.
Game Recap: Oswego State @ Nazareth College
Saturday night, the Lakers headed west to Rochester to take on the Nazareth College Golden Flyers. Nazareth College was hosting the annual Hockey Fights Cancer game at Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex so the Lakers wore their teal jerseys and the Golden Flyers wore special uniforms to honor the cause. Oswego State halted a Nazareth College comeback in overtime to get their fifth straight win by a score line of 6-5. This win was head coach Ed Gosek‘s 350th win as the bench boss for the Oswego State Lakers. His all time record as Oswego State’s head coach improves to 350-111-31 and currently posts a winning percentage of .743. Oswego State forward Alex DiCarlo would net two goals in the contest, both in the first period to put the Lakers ahead. Tyler Flack would have an assist on both of those goals along with two assists later in the contest to put up a four point night and lead the Lakers on the stats sheet. Nazareth would answer in the first period to cut the lead in half but the Lakers would find an answer in the next stanza. Oswego State would net another two goals as Connor Sleeth got a pair of his own. Sleeth was also a factor in the faceoff circle with ten wins, the most from any Oswego State player. The Golden Flyers would string together four goals in the third period, two of them coming from Spencerport native Nick Charron. The tying goal would come with one second remaining off a faceoff that push the game into overtime.
Oswego State and Nazareth would trade shots to start the overtime period before the Lakers gained procession around the one minute mark. Ryan Dickinson would be the hero the Lakers needed after the defenseman redirected the puck off a pass from DiCarlo. The forward would finish with two goals and one assist in the contest. Goaltender Eric Green would finish the contest in between the pipes as starting netminder Steven Kozikoski left the game with the trainer at the end of regulation. Kozikoski would make a total of 27 saves over the course of the sixty minutes of hockey.
Progress Report
With thirteen regular season games left prior to the start of the SUNYAC Championships, the Lakers have a nineteen day rest before the start of the Clarion/Best Western Oswego Hockey Classic. This group of young talent currently sits fifth in the conference standings with six SUNYAC games completed. The Lakers have 13 points posting a 4-1-1 conference record. One positive, the four teams ahead of Oswego State (Geneseo, Cortland, Plattsburgh State, Brockport) have all finished eight conference games. The Lakers have the advantage heading into the second half of the season with two extra conference games still ahead on the calendar. Oswego State still needs to face Buffalo State and Fredonia as those four contests linger on the schedule. Both western teams have had a rough start in terms of conference play.
In terms of offense, the Oswego State Lakers average 3.3 goals per game. The offense goes through both Alex DiCarlo and captain Travis Broughman who are both tied for the points lead with a total of thirteen. DiCarlo has found his freshman form once again and has eight tallies along with eight assist for that thirteen point total. The sophomore is currently on a three game point streak which includes two games that feature multiple point nights. Broughman headed into Rochester with a four game point streak which featured a five point night in SUNY Canton against the Kangaroos. The captains nine assists is a team high and also included in his stat column are four goals for his thirteen point total. Currently these two players are the only Lakers above a point per game. Newcomers like Connor Sleeth and Tyler Flack have also made an impact in the Lakers offense both posting nine points through twelve games. Sleeth heads into January with three goals and six assists while Flack has two goals and seven assists.
On the other side of the puck, the Lakers defensive core averages 2.3 goals against per game, the fourth best in the SUNYAC conference. Out of the eight defenseman on the roster, there is not one that has not dressed in all twelve games so far this season. The team effort on defense has kept opponents to just an average of 25.5 shots per game which compares to the 30.4 that the Lakers average on net. Transfer Troy Robillard leads the team in blocks with a total of fourteen after his eleven games played in an Oswego State uniform. In between the pipes, starting netminder Steven Kozikoski has come to mid season form after a slower start. The Laker currently averages 1.90 goals against and posts a .931 save percentage after his ten games played this season. Newcomer Eric Green has also seen time in net for Oswego State and holds a 2.89 goals against average and has a .840 save percentage. The tandem has done a solid job in the first half of the season especially in tight games.
The special teams have also come a long way after a slow start in the 2021-22 season. As of right now, the Oswego State Lakers power play unit ranks number one in the SUNYAC with a 34.7 efficiency percentage. The Lakers have scored a total of seventeen power play goals over the course of forty nine opportunities. When the Lakers are a man down, Oswego State has only given up seven power play goals to opponents, the same as Geneseo. The Oswego State Lakers rank fourth in the conference with a penalty kill that has a 84.1 success rate. The special team units will be essential to success in the second half of the season.
On the other side of the break, Oswego State will have to look forward to the annual Clarion/Best Western Oswego Hockey Classic. This year, the #4 Augsburg Auggies, SUNY Canton Kangaroos, and Skidmore Thoroughbreds will head to SUNY Oswego to compete in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. On Saturday, January 1st, SUNY Canton will take on Skidmore College at 3:00 p.m. prior to the Oswego State Lakers facing off against the Augsburg University Auggies at 7:00 p.m. in front of a hometown crowd. Sunday’s match ups will be determined by the results from Saturday but Oswego State will play during the 7:00 p.m. time slot. Oswego State has only played Augsburg University once during the 2008-09 season during the Oswego Hockey Classic. The Lakers were victorious in that contest with a final score of 5-2. The Lakers will play six more contests after that weekend in January and a majority of those games will be SUNYAC match ups. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State men’s hockey team and the group continues their hunt for a conference championship in the 2021-22 season.
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
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Oswego men’s hockey advances to SUNYAC final
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s hockey team took a mid-week semi-final head on. After finishing the regular season second in the SUNYAC standings, they got the advantage of a first round bye and got to host a semi-final game. After the first round of matchups was completed the Cortland Red Dragons were set to come to Oswego Wednesday night to take on the Lakers. The Lakers knew exactly what to do to move on, and just 23 seconds into the game Alex DiCarlo fired a shot over the left shoulder of SUNYAC Goaltender of the Year and Co-Player of the Year Luca Durante to give the Lakers the early lead. Just nine minutes later Ryan Dickinson grabbed the puck in the neutral zone passed it up to Shane Bull. He cut hard to the center of the ice and fired a wrist shot over the stick side to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead just 10 minutes into the game, Dickinson picked up his second assist of the night too. Oswego led 15-11 in shots after the first period. The second period started with the Laker’s killing off a penalty that was left over from the first stanza. Both squads played good defense throughout the middle period and no goals were scored. The best play of the frame came from Oswego captain Travis Broughman had a diving poke check to tip the puck away from a Cortland player who was one-on-one with the goalie. Oswego led in shots in the second period 16-7. The third period started with the Lakers third goal, Tommy Cahill took a pass in the slot and fired it through a screen just two minutes in. Durante had a few good saves throughout the final frame including a tough save on a wide open shot from Alex DiCarlo on a drop pass from Broughman. Cortland would pull Durante with four to play to try and fight back. With two left in the game, Cahill caused a turnover and passed it into the neutral zone for Shane Bull. Bull swung it up to Tyler Flack who buried it into the empty net and officially close the game for the Lakers. Connor Sleeth led the Lakers in shots on goal with eight. Cahill, Bull, and Dickinson all had two points in the game.
Oswego now heads West to Geneseo for a Saturday night championship matchup with the Knights. The two sides have met twice this season, with Geneseo coming out on top in both games, 6-1 in Oswego then 4-2 in Geneseo. The Knights are led by SUNYAC Rookie of the Year, and forty point scorer Peter Morgan. Morgan had three points in the first meeting and one in the second. The Knights beat Brockport Wednesday 3-1, led by Dan Bosio‘s two power play goals, one coming with an empty net, and Morgan‘s two assists. WTOP10 will be live tweeting from the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena in Geneseo during the game with updates. WYNO will be broadcasting the game on the radio and wnyo889.org
PHOTO PROVIDED BY WILLIAM ROGERS, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
