The Oswego State men’s ice hockey team scored early and never looked back, defeating the College at Brockport, 7-1, Saturday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena.
Junior forward and assistant captain Jon Whitelaw scored twice and junior goaltender Dan Jones recorded 27 saves in his first appearance in net this season for the Lakers.
The Lakers (5-1-0 overall, 3-0-0 SUNYAC) jumped out of the gate, scoring two quick goals in the first 1:34 of the game to take an early 2-0 lead on the Golden Eagles. Junior forward and assistant captain Jon Whitelaw tallied the team’s first goal on the first shot of the game for the Lakers just 40 seconds into regulation. Junior forward Paul Rodrigues sent a cross-ice pass from right to left to Whitelaw, who rocketed a one-timer past Brockport goalie Joe Reagan stick side.
Junior forward Matt Singleton gave the Lakers a two-goal lead at 1:34 of the first period. Freshman defenseman Nick Rivait found Singleton in front of the net, where Singleton was able to knock the puck past Reagan for the goal. The goal was Singleton’s second in as many games. Junior forward Chris Ayotte was awarded the second assist on the play.
The Golden Eagles (0-4-1 overall, 0-3-1 SUNYAC) settled down after the first two minutes, keeping the Lakers from breaking the game open prior to the game’s first intermission. Oswego State was called for five penalties in the first period, including an insportsmanlike bench minor penalty on head coach Ed Gosek after junior forward Paul Rodrigues was called for boarding 30 seconds earlier. Brockport was unable to capitalize on the 5-on-3 advantage, as Dan Jones kept the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard. The Golden Eagles finished with 13 shots in the first period, 10 of which came on the power play.
Oswego State again struck early to begin the second period, scoring its third goal of the game at 5:31 of the frame on Ayotte’s second goal of the season and second point of the game. Ayotte’s goal came as the result of a redirection off junior defenseman Tim Carr’s shot. Carr wristed a shot from outside the right faceoff circle that Ayotte was able to get a stick on and redirect the puck through the legs of Reagan.
The Lakers controlled the second period, outshooting the Golden Eagles 19-6. Junior defenseman Jesse McConney took a 10-minute misconduct penalty late in the period after being called for an interference penalty. The Lakers were able to kill off the interference penalty, as Brockport’s power play went 0-for-6 on the man advantage through two periods.
For the third consecutive period, the Lakers wasted no time seizing the momentum, scoring 1:21 into the frame on junior forward Luke Moodie’s one-timer goal from the slot. Junior defenseman Zach Josepher passed the puck behind the net to Rodrigues, who found Moodie in the slot, who one-timed a shot past Reagan stick side top shelf to give the Lakers a four-goal lead early in the third period.
Sophomore forward Kyle Badham scored the team’s fifth goal of the game on a wrap around shot at 5:50 of the third period. Badham took a pass from sophomore forward David Titanic behind the net and skated in front of the net to the left of Reagan, who went down to take away a low shooting angle. Badham instead went high with the shot, shooting the puck over the shoulder of Reagan and into the back of the net.
The Lakers would tally a power-play goal from Rodrigues and Whitelaw’s second goal of the game before the end of the game.
Oswego State outshot the Golden Eagles 50-28 for the game including 38-15 over the course of the final two periods.
The Golden Eagles would prevent the shut out, as Bobby Conner scored Brockport’s lone goal of the game with 1:43 remaining in the game.
The Lakers will host Morrisville State College on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Campus Center Ice Arena.
Reagan finished with 43 saves on 50 shots faced in a losing effort for the Golden Eagles.
