Oswego State swept the home and home with SUNY Canton after a 4-0 win at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena tonight. A good win to send the seniors off, with what could be, their final game on home ice.

This game was all Oswego State from the start. The Lakers weren’t as good as they were offensively yesterday, but other parts of their game improved. Zawadzki posted a shut out after the adventure in net the game prior. The score today was more indicative that the Lakers were the better team, although the coaching staff still sees room for improvement.

“I didn’t think we played as well as last night,” Coach Gosek said. “I know last night is a one goal game, but pucks just didn’t fall. We were crisp, we executed. We were on the same page tonight, I just thought we didn’t chip pucks in. We tried to do too much. We opened up with the puck. We threw pucks away. So, our puck management wasn’t as good as last night.”

The Lakers power play has been silently improving this year. They now have goals in two straight games with the man advantage. Sean Federow scored the first power play marker, then Matt Galati scored to make the ‘Roos pay for taking penalties.

“Power play last night, power play tonight was much better,” Gosek said. “With us, nine shots [and] two goals, that’s the way our power play has to be percentage wise.”

The defensive side of the of the special teams was even better for Oswego State. Kenny Neil managed to score shorthanded to make it 4-0 late in the third period.

“To give them seven opportunities and three shots,” Gosek said. “That’s a very good job by the penalty killers. So, with that, that’s a step in the right direction.”

There were 23 penalties tonight combined for both teams. The refs weren’t letting anything go, and it really changed how this game flowed. Canton plays aggressive and it showed tonight. The chippiness in their game is one of the reason the ‘Roos hung around.

“I think part of their game is just to play very, very hard and be intense and try to get in their opponents faces,” senior Brandon Adams said. “They did a pretty good job at doing that between last night and tonight. I don’t think they necessarily got under our skin but they were able to take advantage of some of our stick penalties.”

Coach Gosek wasn’t pleased with the officiating either. He took a bench minor after the conclusion of the first period when he exchanged words with the officials. Gosek didn’t get ejected, but he did what any good coach would do, and that is stick up for his team.

“That was premeditated,” Gosek said. “It’s not that we didn’t deserve the calls that we did, but the same exact play happened four or five times. Those guys have been around long enough, they are experienced enough just to be consistent.”

Matt Zawadzki had a little bit of a tough time in the first, but he battled through and then looked good the rest of the way. He would go on to put up a 19 save shutout.

“I played better and that is kind of what we need heading into playoffs,” Zawadzki said. “It was great team win. It’s good momentum, good confidence getting a win and we just gotta build from it.”

My Three Stars

3- Mitch Herlihey

Herlihey registered a team high five shots today, but just couldn’t bury a chance. He looked good on the power play tonight and will need to keep up his offensive output into the playoffs. He was good on the defensive end as well, blocking two shots.

2- Brandon Adams

The senior came through on his night. He assisted on the first goal of the game and was credited with another assist on the Matt Galati power play goal. Adams showed his value tonight in the faceoff circle as well, winning all three draws he took. Adams is a great player to bring energy to a team in so many ways.

1- Kenny Neil

The real deal does it again. Scoring twice, once while on the penalty kill. He now has 14 goals on the year and that is good for first on the team. It was a typical night for the two-way forward tonight, doing all the little things right, and the big things, as well.

Injury Update

Mac Scott missed his third consecutive game with a separated shoulder tonight. Gosek plans on having him back for at least one game this weekend to get him in game shape and ready for the playoffs.

Adrian Ignagni was slated to start Friday night but took a puck to the head in warm ups and didn’t start because of concussion like symptoms. He could’ve gone tonight if need, but the coaching staff didn’t want to risk anything.

Down the Stretch

With how this season shaped up, it is unlikely that the Lakers will host a playoff game this year, at least early on. What matters is how they turn on the jets. This wasn’t a perfect weekend by any means, but there was plenty to build on. They were good on special teams, they didn’t allow Canton to cut the middle, and overall they had pretty good pressure. The penalties are an issue, but those relate to the type of team they played.

CuJo Junior

Taylor Joseph, son of Curtis Joseph, the retired NHL goalie, suited up tonight as the backup goalie. Gosek talked post game about how the plan was to get Joseph in if the game permitted, but the Lakers couldn’t pull away enough. The freshman hasn’t played much all year, but this shows something about his character. He stepped up when his team needed him, even if he didn’t play.

The Lakers will have a two game road swing to end the regular season. The first of those games is Friday against Buffalo State at 7 p.m.