In its final game in front of the student body for the fall semester, the Oswego State men’s ice hockey team scored late in the third period to defeat Hobart College, 2-1, in a non-conference game on Saturday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena.
Junior defenseman Jesse McConney scored the game-winning goal with 6:10 remaining in the third period and the Laker defense killed off a penalty in the final minutes of regulation to preserve the victory. Sophomore forward Kyle Badham blocked a shot by Hobart’s Brad Richard in the final seconds.
Neither team found the back of the net in the first period, as the Lakers outshot Hobart, 8-2, in the frame. Oswego State had a few chances with loose pucks in front of the net, but couldn’t push the pucks past the goal line. The Lakers had three power play chances, recording just two shots with the man advantage. Hobart had two chances of its own with the man advantage, but failed to record a shot on net.
Oswego State (9-1-2 overall, 6-0-0 SUNYAC) broke through in the second period on a goal by junior forward Chris Brown at 9:08. Brown took a pass from senior forward and captain Andrew Mather along the end boards in the offensive end and skated in front to the left faceoff circle. Brown wristed a shot that deflected off the far side post and into the back of the net, past Hobart goaltender Martin Ausserhofer for the game’s first goal. Junior forward Chris Muise received the secondary assist on the play.
Hobart (5-6-0 overall, 1-3-0 ECAC West had a few golden opportunities to net its first goal of the game but hit the post on three separate occasions over the course of the second period. Ryan Michel saw his shot hit off the post minutes before Brown gave the Lakers the one-goal lead. David Stevens had consecutive shots in the second half of the period hit off the post.
Oswego State nearly took the two-goal lead within the first two minutes of the third period, but senior forward and assistant captain Ian Boots had what appeared to be a goal waved off by the officials. Ausserhofer made the initial save on Boots’ shot from the slot, but the momentum of the shot pulled Ausserhofer past the goal line while still possessing the puck. The officials met to discuss the call but confirmed the no-goal call.
The Statesmen found the back of the net at 7:25 of the third period to tie the game at one on a goal by Ryan Corcoran. Corcoran possessed the puck at the blue line and wristed a shot through heavy traffic in front of the net that beat Oswego State junior goaltender Andrew Hare for Hobart’s first goal.
McConney recaptured the lead for the Lakers with his fifth goal of the season, which leads defenseman on the team. At 13:50 of the third period, McConney received a pass from junior forward Luke Moodie at the blue line and wristed a shot past Ausserhofer five hole to give the Lakers a one-goal lead.
Hare finished the game with 19 saves in a winning effort for the Lakers, while Ausserhofer finished with 23 saves for the Statesmen.
Both teams finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Hobart had three shots on net while on the power play and the Lakers had just two.
The Lakers return to action on Dec. 30 when they host their annual Pathfinder Bank Oswego Hockey Classic. Oswego State will face Connecticut College in the first round at 7 p.m. at the Campus Center Ice Arena. WNYO 88.9 FM will have full coverage of the tournament starting with the Hamline University/Neumann University game at 4:00 p.m. WNYO will be broadcasting all four games of the tournament live.
