In a game where Oswego State needed a win they came through. After an early season defeat at the hands of the Cortland Red Dragons the Lakers were able to get redemption in front of a ruckus crowd at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.

After a silent first period in the goal department one could’ve been expecting an Oswego State collapse. They had so many chances but just couldn’t bury anything. The Lakers put up 15 shots to the Red Dragons’ four. Andrew Barton rang one off the crossbar, Chris Waterstreet took a one-timed chance from close range but couldn’t beat Drew Weigman and there were plenty of other chances that the Oswego State forwards just couldn’t finish on.

The second period came and things heated up. Brandon Adams opened the scoring at the 7:04 mark of the middle frame, scoring his first goal of the year. David Ferreira was able to find Adams open in the slot where he buried the puck in a nearly open net. Mac Scott was given the secondary assist.

“We were working it well down low,” Ferreira said. “I got cross checked from behind and just ended up shoveling it to him. It was lucky to be honest.”

Cortland State was able to generate more offense in the second period, most of which, came on odd man breaks that Adrian Ignagni made some stellar saves on. A untimely change resulted in one, and late in the period a three-on-two chance found the back of the net. Micael Mascaro took a shot from the wall that Ignagni made the initial save on but his rebound found the stick of Sam Pinsler to even the scoring at 19:25 of the second period.

“The goal at the end of the period there where we forced things up top, turned it over, gave them a line rush,” head coach Ed Gosek said. “Our forward doesn’t pick up the right guy for the rebound, our [defense] takes the guy wide and our [defense] takes the net drive guy and Kenny Neil, he knows it’s his guy. He’s puck focused watching the guy shoot the puck instead of working hard to pick that guy up. That shouldn’t happen.”

The goal seemed like a momentum killer at the time, but Matt Galati came in to rescue the Lakers. Having a goal drought dating back to Nov. 13 of 2015. A goalless streak of 13 games all ended tonight. Galati scored just nine seconds later and it was a dandy. He took a shot from the top of the circle and beat Weigman top shelf. Shawn Hulshof was given the assist on the slump buster of a goal along with JJ Hart.

“Let’s hope he is getting going at the right time,” Gosek said.

“It’s been awhile. It feels good.” Galati said

The junior wouldn’t stop there. Just 1:17 seconds into the third period Galati would find the back of the net once again. The insurance marker came after Hulshof found his line mate open in the high slot. Galati drove to the net, like the power forward he is, and was able to put it past Weigman with a nice finish.

“Hulshy did a great job on the wall to get the puck back and he found me in the slot,” Galati said. “I saw the [defense] was a little bit flat footed so I just tried to drive to the net and luckily I waited out the goalie and put it in.”

Oswego State had to kill off two late penalties, one of which was a 6-on-4 because Cortland opted to pull their goalie. Adrian Ignagni was the Lakers best penalty killer for the Brandon Adams hooking minor; the last penalty of the game.

“I thought he made some good saves at the end on the penalty kill when it counted,” Gosek said. “As much as I thought he might have struggled a little bit in the first and second I thought he was sharp when he needed to be in the third and came up with some timely saves.”

Despite the Red Dragons only having one win in conference play all year the Lakers played a very good game in all aspects. Offensively they generated shots because they were patient with the puck and excellent on zone entries.  Winning the faceoff battle also was a huge part of the win tonight.

“With the amount of draws that we won allowed us to get zone time and keep things going in the right direction in the offensive zone,” Gosek said. “So I thought that was a positive.”

My Three Stars

3- Shawn Hulshof

Hulshof played alongside Alex Botten and Matt Galati tonight. This brought back some chemistry. Hulshof made a nice pass on the third Oswego State goal but was working hard the entire night. He registered three shots and finished with a +2 rating tonight. This line will be a big part of this team’s success moving forward so they will need to be good.

2- Adrian Ignagni

The transfer goalie got his sixth overall win on the year tonight while making some big saves. He wasn’t perfect, but a goalie of his style never looks perfect in net. Late in the game he came up big for his team making some saves on sure-fire goals. He stopped 23 of 24 shots on the way to a win.

1-Matt Galati

Galati carried the Lakers to a victory tonight. His game winner and insurance marker was not just huge for him but for his team. Anytime a top scorer like Galati is on a cold streak the entire team notices. Now that he is back on the scoresheet the team has their big man back. If he can continue this the Lakers’ chances of making a SUNYAC run greatly increase.

The Men and the Boys

It was evident tonight that the Lakers wanted a win. They were flying all night and really put the Red Dragons on their heels. Individual efforts that pay dividends really showed tonight. For example, a diving Shawn Hulshof to get a loose puck to his teammate on the power play so they wouldn’t waste more time on the man advantage. Or the David Ferreira shot from his knees that Weigman had to make a difficult save on. Or even the Chris Waterstreet extra effort to clear the puck in the neutral zone so his team wouldn’t get caught in a change. All these small plays led to the Lakers feeling good but more importantly, getting the win. We saw the difference from the men and the boys tonight for sure.

Injury Bug

Mitch Herlihey’s status was in question earlier this week after blocking a shot in his foot against Geneseo. He played tonight on the top line so he appears to be okay. TJ Sneath hurt his shoulder when he was hit awkwardly into the boards. He tried to finish his shift but then got off the ice. He was looked at by the trainer and didn’t miss any time. After the game he was looked at as well, but Gosek didn’t have any updates for me.

5 Man Rotation

The defense was short one man tonight because Pierre Oullette, Kristoffer Brun and Stephen Johnson were all unavailable. Connor Boyd was listed as the sixth defenseman on the lineup card tonight but played as the extra forward. He rotated in with the fourth line at times and made the most of his opportunities. He got his first shift with around five and a half minutes left in the first period and was very active. In the middle of the third period he deflected a Chris Raguseo point shot and also had a good shot of his own. His work tonight is a good sign moving forward for the young kid.

Best Quote

Galati didn’t give a knee slapper, but he summed up his goal that ended this drought perfectly.

“I’m happy to get the monkey off my back,” Galati said.

Luck?

You know that old quote from Thomas Jefferson?

“I’m a great believer in luck, and the harder I work, the more luck I have.”

That sums up the Lakers night. All the hard work Oswego State put in tonight transferred to a win. David Ferreira was a perfect example of it. His pass while falling from a cross check is just hard work and determination that resulted in a goal.

It’s funny that both players I talked to tonight said the word “luck” during their interview.  There was nothing lucky about tonight’s game.

The hard work payed off.

What We Learned

Yes, it was against a team with four points this year, but the Lakers looked hungry. They wanted a win and pulled themselves together to make it happen. All four lines took advantage of their chances. No player stood out to me negatively. There were some turnovers at times, but the Lakers won faceoffs, clogged up the neutral zone, created quality chances and took shots all while having solid goaltending. Building off this game is key moving forward.

The Oswego State Lakers will take on the top team in the SUNYAC, the Plattsburgh State Cardinals, next Friday on the road at 7 p.m.