The Oswego State men’s ice hockey team started and ended sluggish, but did enough in the middle to hold of The College at Brockport, 6-4, on Saturday night at Tuttle North Ice Arena.
Junior forward Chris Brown tallied the team’s first hat trick of the season and junior forward Chris Muise registered a goal and two assists for a three-point night as well.
Much like Friday night’s game at Geneseo, the Lakers came out of the gate slow and saw themselves fall behind going to the first period intermission. Brockport’s James Cody registered his 16th goal of the season at 5:13 of the first period to give the Golden Eagles a one-goal lead in front of the home fans. Adam Shoff was credited with the assist on the play.
Sean Wallace gave the Golden Eagles a two-goal lead at 14:07 of the frame, beating junior goaltender Andrew Hale five hole with assists going to Ian Finnerty and Brett Jendra. Brockport scored just once when the two teams met at the Campus Center Ice Arena earlier in the season, but scored two goals in the first 16-plus minutes of Saturday’s game.
The Lakers (16-2-2 overall, 9-0-2 SUNYAC) took a bit of momentum into the locker room, as Brown scored his first of three on the night at 15:28 of the period after receiving a pass from sophomore forward David Titanic to cut the deficit in half.
Oswego State took control of the game in the second period, outscoring the Golden Eagles 3-0 and outshooting them 13-10. Muise started the second period scoring with a breakaway goal at 7:36 and was followed shortly after by a power-play goal by senior forward Ian Boots at 8:54. Muise and junior forward Tyler Leimbrock were credited with the assists.
Brown tallied his second goal of the game at 10:48 while skating 4-on-4 after cross-checking penalties by junior forward Chris Ayotte and Brockport’s Brett Jendra. Junior forward Jon Whitelaw was credited with the assist on Brown’s second goal.
The Lakers did not let up heading into the third period, as Leimbrock scored his 10th goal of the season just 52 seconds into the period. Muise earned the assist on the play.
Following a boarding penalty by sophomore forward Kyle Badham at 8:36 of the third period, Brockport called a timeout and pulled goaltender Oliver Wren in favor for a two-skater advantage. The strategy backfired, as Brown took possession of the puck a little over a minute into the penalty and registered the shorthanded empty-net goal to put the Lakers up 6-2 with 10:10 remaining in regulation.
The Golden Eagles (7-12-2 overall, 3-8-1 SUNYAC) would fight back, tallying the game’s final two goals but simply ran out of time to complete a comeback attempt. Brockport’s Chris Cangro scored the team’s third goal at 15:19 before Cody got his second of the game and 17th of the season at 18:15. Cody’s 17 goals are fourth-most in Division III.
The Lakers finished 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Golden Eagles were unsuccessful on all of their five attempts.
Hare, playing in his second game in as many nights, finished with 25 saves on 29 shots faced to earn his 13th win in net this season for the Lakers. Wren finished with 24 saves on 30 shots faced for Brockport.
The Lakers play their final road game of the regular season against Morrisville State College on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Iceplex. The two teams tied 3-3 when they met at the Campus Center Ice Arena.
