Trailing by a goal in the third period, the Oswego State men’s ice hockey team scored three unanswered goals en route to a 5-3 victory over Buffalo State on Saturday night at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.

Junior forward Paul Rodrigues led the Laker offense with three points on two goals and an assist, as the first line of Rodrigues and junior forwards Jon Whitelaw and Luke Moodie combined for six points on two goals and four assists. The rest of the team combined for five points on three goals and two assists.

The Lakers (7-1-1 overall, 5-0-1 SUNYAC) opened up the scoring at 3:59 of the first period on Rodrigues first goal of the game, beating Buffalo State goaltender Kevin Carr. Whitelaw earned his first of two assists on the game on Rodrigues’ goal.

The Bengals (4-3-0 overall, 4-3-0 SUNYAC) came right back to tie the game at one on the power play at 11:07 of the first period. Following a delay of game penalty by junior defenseman Zack Josepher, Nick Melligan received a pass from Tyler Nelson and put the puck past junior goaltender Andrew Hare for Buffalo State’s first goal of the game.

Oswego State responded with a power-play goal of its own at 13:53 of the second period to regain a one-goal lead. Following a tripping penalty by Daniel Andersson, senior forward and assistant captain Ian Boots fed junior forward Chris Brown with a pass, who was able to beat Carr for his fourth goal of the season. The Lakers finished 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

The lead would not last long, as Buffalo State scored the equalizer at 16:01 of the second period. Matt Bessing netted his first goal of the season on assists by Justin Knee and Steve Wicklum.

The Bengals would take their first and only lead of the game on the power play at 1:34 of the third period on a goal by Knee. Justin McKinney and Anthony Orange were credited with the assists on the play. Buffalo State finished 2-for-6 on the power play.

Oswego State responded with three unanswered goals to capture the road victory. Rodrigues tied the game at 9:23 of the third period on his second goal of the game with assists by Moodie and Whitelaw. Junior defenseman Tim Carr scored the game-winning game 31 seconds later. Rodrigues was credited with the assist.

Buffalo State called a timeout with 49 seconds remaining and pulled Carr for the extra attacker. But the extra attacker would not net the game-tying goal, as sophomore forward Kyle Badham scored the empty-net goal with 10 seconds left.

Hare recorded his sixth victory of the season in net for the Lakers, finishing with 22 saves. Carr took the loss in net for the Bengals, making 35 saves in a losing effort.

The Lakers will get a week off before heading back on the road to face archrival Plattsburgh on Friday, Dec. 2, at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.