The Oswego State men’s hockey team’s last SUNYAC Championship came in 2014, after a back-and-forth game against SUNY Geneseo at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena with a 7-6 win for the Lakers.

By the end of the second period, it was 5-3 Oswego State. At 14:22 of the final regulation period, both teams found themselves in a 6-6 tie after the Knights had “a heck of a comeback,” head coach Ed Gosek said.

After the original shot from Alex Botten hit SUNY Geneseo’s goaltender, Bryan Haude, a hunched-over Shawn Hulshof got the rebound and hit the puck like a baseball with the stick below the crossbar, hitting the back of the net at 19:31. Gosek said referee Dan Murphy “surprisingly” made the signal for the goal.

“It was crazy,” Gosek said. “It was definitely an exciting game for the fans.”

Oswego State has 10 SUNYAC Championships in its history, dating back to its first crown back in 1980. That season, along with the 1981, 1982 and 1984 championships were all based on who had the best conference record within the SUNYAC. All of the teams were still part of the ECAC West at this point. Starting in 1985 is when the playoffs started to be played at a rink, hosted by the No. 1 team in the SUNYAC.

Under the new format, the Lakers’ first SUNYAC championship win came in 1989 as the host team. Oswego State defeated SUNY Geneseo 5-4 to take the crown. The next tournament victory in 1991 came, once again, against the Knights with a 6-2 win in Geneseo. More championships would come to Oswego State in 2003, 2010 and 2013, all of which were hosted by the Lakers.

But in 2014, Oswego State won that high-scoring affair on the road to claim its most recent SUNYAC Championship. Since that same year, the Knights have not missed the SUNYAC tournament and have hosted the last two seasons, making the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena, SUNY Geneseo’s home ice, a crowded arena.

“Since they’ve gotten better, their atmosphere has improved. They have their students involved, they’ve got their community involved. The attendance is way up,” Gosek said. “It’s a tough place to play, but it’s also a fun place to play.”

In 2014, Oswego State had also lost to SUNY Geneseo both times during the regular season. There was a 7-4 loss during the first half of the season on the road, followed by a 3-2 loss at home.

Gosek said, following the Lakers’ 4-1 SUNYAC Semifinal victory over Plattsburgh State on Tuesday, sweeping the three-game series over the Cardinals, that it is hard to beat a team three times in one season. That was apparent in 2014, with Oswego State’s win in the high-scoring championship game.

SUNY Geneseo nearly swept all three games last season, but a 4-4 tie on Feb. 9, 2018, ended such hopes after the Knights’ win in early December, as well as the 2019 SUNYAC Championship game.

While there have been more setbacks for the Lakers this season compared to other seasons, history sometimes has a funny way of repeating itself. 

The Lakers suffered the 9-1 loss to the Knights in November and then a 5-3 loss on Feb. 9 at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena. The third game is coming up this Saturday in the SUNYAC Championships at “the Ira.”

“I would like to think that we are a better team and more disciplined and playing better hockey than the last time we were there, as well as the last game here when we were against them,” Gosek said. “The nice thing about the playoffs is it’s one game. It doesn’t matter what your record is this Saturday.”

With the implementation of the PairWise system last season, there is no doubt that if Oswego State does not repeat history in Geneseo in the championship game and win it on the road, the Lakers will not make the NCAA Div. III tournament. The Lakers are too far down on the PairWise ranking, sitting at No. 17, for an at-large bid. The SUNYAC’s automatic bid is a must.

“The only way we’re getting in is with a league championship. I personally like that. It takes all the guessing out, where you’re telling the guys that we’ve got to wait [until Selection Monday] to see [if we go to nationals],” Gosek said. “We don’t even talk about it. It just adds to the stress and to the things we can’t control.”

But as Gosek said after the game against Plattsburgh State, “on paper, [the Lakers] shouldn’t win.” Essentially, Oswego State has nothing to lose on Saturday as the underdog against SUNY Geneseo, who is ranked No. 2 in the nation.

“They’re in a situation that they’re getting in either way. [The players] understand they’re not getting in if we don’t win it,” Gosek said. “For us, this is it. … You can’t take back our shortcomings in the beginning of the year. We’ll have a good game on Saturday.”

Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian