The Oswego State men’s hockey team will host its season opener tonight at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena against the College at Brockport at 7 p.m.

The Lakers started their regular season last night on the road against SUNY Geneseo in a 3-3 tie, as the Lakers came back and earned a point in the standings.

They started off quick, as they usually do, with a goal quick in the first period by Joey Davies putting the Lakers up 1-0.

However, Oswego would then surrender three unanswered goals to the Knights. They would tack on one at the end of the second period and another one by Shawn Hulshof as he found the back of the net with 3:11 remaining in the game.

The Lakers difficult opening section of the schedule will continue tonight as they face the Golden Eagles, who have played them tough as of recent.

Last year when the Lakers started off 5-0-0, the Golden Eagles came to Oswego and tied them 4-4 in what was a surprise draw from both teams, as Oswego was clearly the superior team.

After that loss, it went downhill for the Lakers as they went on to tie Utica College the following night and then lost to SUNY Geneseo the following Tuesday.

A win is vital for the Lakers at this point in the season because if they don’t secure a win it would be quite the reality-check as their schedule does not get much easier with their next three opponents being SUNY Cortland, SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Potsdam.

The big cause for concern is the defense for the Lakers after losing their two starters from last year along with some depth due to graduation. Current captain Chris Raguseo is also out with injury, magnifying the team’s lack of defensive talent either more.

Starting goalie Matt Zawadzki will most likely have to bail out his team to preserve either a lead or stop a deficit from growing.

Oswego has scored three goals in both their exhibition game and regular season opener and although they haven’t been as dominant with special teams, they don’t seem to have a lot of issues warranting their offensive play.

Player To Watch: He had an auspicious start to his Oswego career after being named SUNYAC Rookie of the Year in 2013/2014, but Matt Galati has seen his fair share of struggles.

He has yet to score this year and the junior standout even had a lengthy string of games last season where he couldn’t find the back of the net. Known for his aggressive shot mentality on the power play, Galati will need to find that stroke once again to help the Lakers on special teams. He will also need to be able to score creating his own offense on 5-5, not just taking advantage of being a man-up during the game.

Prediction: It’s nearly impossible to imagine the Lakers starting their opening weekend without a win. Oswego will see its fair share of issues coming from the Golden Eagles, but will hold on behind the strong play of Matt Zawadzki.

Lakers win 4-3.