Team Scope

Lakers- Oswego State is starting to correct their mishaps that resulted in their midseason collapse. They still held onto a playoff spot and will get the chance to face the ex-Laker, Rachel Lenard. The Lakers were recently swept by Elmira College, however, they did look very good in the 3-1 defeat. The scoring has gotten better and the defense has been showing more and more flashes of consistency. This will all need to translate to today’s playoff matchup.

Bengals- This isn’t necessarily a big scoring threat of a team. They are a shut down defensive team, only allowing 1.8 goals per game. For a Laker team that is struggling to score consistently that could mean trouble. Erin Gehen and Nikki Kirchberger are both high-profile scorers that will be giving the top pair of Alyssa Brockmann and Alli Ullrich a handful.

On the Road

The Lakers were swept by Buffalo State this year on the road. They will travel to the North side of Buffalo to take on the Bengals. Oswego State is 6-3-3 on the road this year, better than their home mark, but the Lakers did get SUNY Plattsburgh and Elmira College at home.

Maybe the third time will be the charm.

Goaltending

Today’s game will most likely see Tori Trovato and Justine Silva in net. Trovato has been up and down this year, but overall has been solid. She gives the Lakers the best chance to win, partly due to Madrigal’s injury. Trovato is a real good competitor and there shouldn’t be any reason the Bengals don’t see the best form of Trovato today. She’s been fantastic in four of her last five games.

Silva has gotten 89.3% of the net share this season. With a 1.57 GAA she is the backbone to this defensive minded team. She needs to control her rebounds and cut down the angles and she will be fine.

Coach’s Corner

When talking to both coach Dillon and coach Haney this week they weren’t expecting to see many differences in the Buffalo State game. They were able to watch their games against Utica College at the end of the season and didn’t see many different schemes. They may roll out something different, but overall both teams know each other and it should be interesting to see how they react.

Best Motivation 

Good job, captain.

Players to Watch

Lakers- Olivia Ellis

The Lakers top forward hasn’t scored a conference goal since Dec. 4. She’s been getting better and better and has been the best Laker without a goal the last four games. Today she finally breaks through. Ellis has been knocking on the door for a couple of weeks now.

Bengals- Rachel Lenard

Lenard returned home this season to play with the Bengals. She has registered 15 points in just 14 games with the Bengals and that is good for fourth on the team in scoring. FOURTH with ten and eleven less games played. She was a reason the Lakers were in that scoring slump. She should bring an extra edge into this game. The coaching staff downplayed the effect she may have in this game though.

By the Numbers

Seeding

Lakers- 5 seed in the ECAC West

Bengals- 4 seed in the ECAC West

Goals per Game

Lakers- 2.2

Bengals-2.88

Powerplay

Lakers- 14-85 (16.5%) [No. 23 in Div. III]

Bengals- 19-112 (17.0%) [No. 22 in Div. III]

Penalty Kill

Lakers- 53-63 (84.1%) [No. 35 in Div. III]

Bengals- 101-115  (87.8%) [No. 15 in Div. III]

Game Prediction

With the playoffs about to kick off each and every team needs their goalie to be their best player. Both teams have the goalies that can take over, they will be the X-factor in today’s tilt. These teams spent all week preparing for each other, if something is missed that is on the coaching staff. Buffalo State has never hosted a playoff game before and they are getting the campus pumped. The Lakers are hungry, but who wouldn’t be? This one is close until the end, unfortunately the Bengals edge this one out in overtime.

Bengals win 3-2