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Oswego Men’s Hockey continues win streak against Buffalo State
OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Hockey hosted Buffalo State Friday night in the Marano Campus Center to kick off the final weekend of the regular season. The Lakers would come away with the victory over the Bengals with a score line of 3-2. Oswego would get the lone goal of the first two periods as senior Jody Sullivan tallied a goal around the 12 minute mark of the first period. Joseph Molinaro and Mac Lewis secured assists on the first Laker goal. Oswego would get back on the scoreboard at the start of the third period as sophomore Travis Broughman would score on a wrap around just one minute in. Alex DiCarlo would eventually get the game winning goal around halfway through the period as the freshman ripped one past the Bengals netminder. However, Buffalo State would tally two goals by the end of the game to make it a thriller in the final minutes inside the Marano Campus Center.
The Lakers now look ahead to Fredonia who is coming off a win last night in Cortland. The Devils are in a must win situation as the team looks to stay alive and make it into the SUNYAC tournament. For the Lakers, the team can extend their current three game winning streak to four and maintain momentum into the playoffs. Senior Night also adds some special feelings to the 13 seniors playing in their final regular season game tonight. The Lakers and Devils are set to faceoff at 7 p.m. but WTOP 10 will begin coverage at 6:30 p.m. before puck drop.
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Men’s Hockey Season Recap after SUNYAC run
GENESEO, NY — The Men’s Hockey team will head to Geneseo this weekend to battle for the SUNYAC Championship. The 16-9-1 Lakers have had an up and down season up to this point, as the group now is on a five-game winning streak fresh of a victory over rivals Plattsburgh. Oswego’s season started back on October 19th with an exhibition game against Carleton Place, then against Nazareth, both wins for the Lakers. The group would head into the regular season and secure four conference wins in a homestand at the Marano Campus Center that would give them first place in the SUNYAC standings.
One turning point in the season came from a road trip to Geneseo, to face a nationally ranked team in the same barn that Oswego lost the SUNYAC Championship in last season. The Lakers would fall apart and lose 9-1 as multiple Lakers would be tossed from the game and miss their next matchup against Hobart. This game would be the start of a three-game losing streak against nationally ranked teams, Hobart and Salve Regina in the Utica Thanksgiving Tournament. Oswego would turn it around on that Saturday in Utica against Plymouth State to give the Lakers hope as the team continued into the last week of the first half of the season. The Lakers would head on the road and swept the Buffalo teams in the conference to finish 7-3 in the first semester.
Oswego would come back from Christmas Break to play in the annual Pathfinder Bank/Oswego State Classic in which the team would first face off against Saint Mary’s. The defending champs would fall to the mid-west team 1-0 and face UNE the following day and also lose 4-3 to start the new year off on the wrong foot. This losing streak would continue against two more nationally ranked teams in the month of January as Utica and Elmira defeated the Lakers in the Marano Campus Center. The Lakers would not defeat any nationally ranked team this season as the group would go 0-6 against those teams, one of the biggest eyesores of the 2019-2020 season.
After losing to Cortland in overtime, Steven Kozikoski, the sophomore netminder that has not played in a regular season game for the Lakers, got his shot in between the pipes as both senior goalies David Richer and Cedric Hansen were not playing their best games. Kozikoski’s first start was against Canton, a team Oswego has figured out the past few seasons. The Lakers took a commanding win in the Marano Campus Center as the group defeated Canton 8-2 and was one of the turning points that occurred in the second half of the season. The new netminder would go 5-1-1 in net and win his first playoff game for the Lakers this past Tuesday.
The group secured the second seed in the standings with their success in the second semester and faced Plattsburgh on home ice. The team would defeat their rivals 4-1 and move on to Geneseo. The Lakers season once again would end in Geneseo as the Ice Knights defeated Oswego 4-1 in the SUNYAC finals. This would be the second time Oswego would not be able to get it done in the finals while being held at Geneseo. The Lakers would finish 16-10-1 to end the season as the group looks to rebuild as 13 seniors will move on from the program. Moving forward, Oswego looks to rebuild around players like Alex DiCarlo, Travis Broughman, and Steven Kozikoski heading into these next few years as these three players are all underclassmen.
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Lakers’ Losing Streak Extends to Three Games
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State Lakers’ men’s hockey team couldn’t snap its two-game losing skid, falling 4-1 to the Geneseo Knights. The Lakers had far more scoring chances, outshooting the Knights 30-to-24 and had four power plays. However, Oswego State couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities.
Senior forward Matt McQuade picked up the lone goal for the Lakers. Freshman goalie Michael Manzi recorded 20 saves (.870 save percentage) in the loss.
Oswego State came out slow in the first period, generating only one shot on goal within the first five minutes. Geneseo created numerous turnovers in their defensive zone while the Lakers struggled to get off accurate passes.
The Knights took advantage of Oswego State’s lack of offensive production with 6:19 left in the period. Sophomore defenseman Nick Kovacs blasted a slap shot past Manzi’s left leg pad, breaking the scoreless tie.
Kovacs’s goal was the only one of the frame. Geneseo entered the second period with a nine-to-five shots on goal advantage.
The Lakers turned things up a notch offensively to start the second period. Five minutes into the frame, they were outshooting the Knights five-to-two thanks to Oswego State having a five-on-three power play. However, they were unable to convert.
Although the Lakers’ chemistry improved as the frame went along, Geneseo extended its lead. With 9:50 left in the frame, junior forward Carter Diceman buried a wrap-around shot into the bottom right corner of the cage.
Oswego State continued to develop high-quality scoring opportunities. However, the team was unable to cut into the Knights’ lead by the end of the period. The Lakers outshot Geneseo 17-to-seven in the frame.
The third period gave some hope for Oswego State. While the Lakers were shorthanded with 16:11 left in the contest, McQuade buried the loose puck on a breakaway attempt to cut the lead to 2-1.
Although Oswego State continued to apply offensive pressure on the Knights for the rest of the way, junior goalie Jacob Torgner stood on his head. Torgner finished the night with 29 saves (.967 save percentage).
Whatever life was in Deborah F. Stanley Arena was gone after Geneseo responded to McQuade’s goal. Sophomore forward Ryan Forberg sniped the top right corner of the cage from the slot with 8:42 left in the game.
To ice the game, junior forward Luke Panchisin scored an empty netter with 2:21 left on the clock.
The Lakers fall to 14-5-2 this season and remain in second in the SUNYAC. As for the Knights, they improved to 14-6-1 and sit in second in the UCHC.
The Lakers will hit the road to take on Cortland next Friday. Oswego State blanked the Red Dragons 3-0 on Saturday, Jan. 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
