Tori Trovato was given the reigns tonight for a second straight game and didn’t disappoint. She stopped all 26 shots she faced and was sharp all game despite having a rather quiet first 40 minutes. The Lakers broke through in the second frame with two goals and that is all that they needed to secure yet another win.

With a 2-0 win over Neumann University today the Lakers now have a six game winning streak. Overall, Oswego State owned the Knights tonight in all facets of the game. The Lakers had 70 shot attempts and tallied 36 on net tonight. With a team Corsi rating of +34 the Lakers were clearly the better team.

“One of the things we emphasized after yesterday was that we just didn’t come hard enough,” Coach Dillon said. “Basically I told them today that we have to take the fight to them instead of them bringing it into our own house. I thought our compete level was much, much better today.”

First periods have been sort of an Achilles heel for the Lakers this year, but tonight they came out and unlike yesterday’s match up they were more patient, made better decisions and didn’t force things thus, limiting turnovers. The Lakers didn’t score in the first making it their seventh time they have failed to do so in the first period this year but overall set the tone for the game and out shot the Knights 17-3.

“I was happier with the first period. It was a better start,” Dillon said. “I think we owned the period. We set the pace, we set the tempo. I thought we forechecked extremely well.”

The second period was good to Oswego State as they played a very similar game as they did in the first but got rewarded this time. The Lakers are normally a good second period team despite their -1 goal differential in the middle frame. They were again tonight.

“Second period we started to spread [out the middle of the ice] and created a few more chances, actually put a couple in,” Dillon said.

Brianna Rice opened the scoring again and extended her goal scoring streak to three games on a wrap around chance. Rachel Lenard was credited with an assist. Rice credits her goal to hard work.

“[The goal] was very much of a line effort there and able to pop it out and get the rebound,” Chatam transfer Brianna Rice said.

The Lakers powerplay looked good tonight on their three chances. They finally broke through on their last opportunity when Bek Lucas went off for tripping at the 15:17 mark of the second. Alyssa Brockmann took a shot from the point and with the big bodies of Brianna Rice and Kendall Appelbaum, among others, in front Justina Mayr was screened and Lizzy Marks deflected it past the Neumann net minder.

“I think [the powerplay] was very effective,” Rice said. “We all worked really hard and passed it around and with the communication we were able to get it through, and Lizzy had a nice tip.”

In the final frame the Lakers took two penalties but didn’t surrender a goal. The undisciplined play could be one of the only negatives that the coaching staff could take away from this game. Kendall Appelbaum took a bad retaliation penalty in this period. It didn’t go unnoticed by the coaching staff. She played only one shift after she took the third period penalty.

“If there was one point today I wasn’t happy with it was the two penalties in the third,” Dillon said. “Especially when we were preaching disciplined hockey.”

Despite that, Oswego State stood tall and didn’t surrender a goal during those two third period penalties. The coaching staff was proud of the penalty kill and overall defensive zone play. Blocked shots were not a rarity tonight as the Lakers clogged up the shooting lanes constantly.

“Much better than yesterday,” Dillon said. “I just thought we played a more unselfish team game. We were doing things that we haven’t practiced or talked about, ever. Today we played more of a team game and it showed.”

“I definitely think I’m happy with the [penalty kill],” forward Laura Thacker said. “We’re working really hard as a unit and we’re not letting them get any quality chances and we are even getting offensive chances on the [penalty kill]. So we are really starting to put it together on special teams and five [on] five.

A bad turnover from Victoria Blake was the outcome of a bad decision that was a rarity tonight. Oswego State made good passes, especially in the neutral zone, that helped them gain speed and set up in the offensive zone. This was not one of them.

“It was a bad play,” Dillon said. “She decided to reverse it off the end wall, but the angle was bad and she wasn’t in control of her body. The idea was fine, but she ended up putting it right in front of the net and Tori had to react.”

Three Stars

1- Brianna Rice

The junior now has goals in three straight games and upped her total to five on the year. She’s been one of the most consistent forwards all year. Rice blocked a point shot in the first period today, cleared the puck, proceeded to beat out the icing call and even helped the Lakers set up in the zone. Her two-way play is what earned her my first star of the night.

2- Tori Trovato

The captain of the Lakers played very well tonight, especially in the third when she had to help kill off two penalties.  Trovato faced 15 shots in the third including a flurry of chances that came her way because of the face-off the Lakers couldn’t win when they were faced with six forwards. Justina Mayr was pulled for the extra man for the second straight game.

3- Alyssa Brockmann

Playing alongside Victoria Blake tonight the junior played well despite not playing with her usual partner. She helped quarterback the power play and that led to the second Laker goal. That was the team’s ninth goal with the man advantage this season.

In the Locker Room

Blocked shots are something the Lakers pride themselves on, and with multiple of them tonight it was evident that their compete level, as Coach Dillon calls it, was better than Friday. Rachel Lenard was given the Hard Hat Award tonight for her efforts this weekend. This award is given out by the players and coaching staff to whatever player is deemed to work the hardest.

“She worked her butt off this weekend and she definitely stepped it up on both sides of the ice.” Laura Thacker said.

Looking Ahead

The Lakers play again on Jan. 15 against the Chatam Cougars. That game will be played 41 days from now. A long rest will either be troublesome or beneficial for teams, depending the way you view it.

“I think that as a team we know what we gotta do to stay with it,” Rachel Lenard said. “We come back and we are back at it because we know what our goal is and we make it happen.”

“I think it’s a good break I just wish it wasn’t as long as it is,” Coach Dillon said. “So it’s really almost two separate seasons for us.”

Around the League

The Lakers swept the weekend and got the four points they needed and now have 12 on the year. Plattsburgh and Buffalo State have to finish up their two game series this weekend along with Elmira and Potsdam. The standings after Sunday’s tilts will really show the state of the ECAC West.

What’s Different?

The Lakers sported teal jerseys in today’s game in support of Ovarian Cancer Awareness. This was all put together by Mary Gosek, wife of Ed Gosek who is the head coach of the men’s hockey team. Mary is bravely battling Ovarian Cancer.  This night is in part with Hope for Heather which helps raise awareness and knowledge for women about Ovarian Cancer. This is the number one cause of death from gynecological cancers in the United States today.

The Lakers take on Chatam, as previously mentioned, on Jan. 15 at 5 p.m. at the Alpha Ice Complex in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.