The first frame came and went with no goals, but didn’t lack in the physicality department. The Lakers came out quick and laid some big hits early. Joey Rutkowski’s hit that nearly sent Jaren Burke into the penalty box got the crowd into it to start.
Aaron Huffnagle and Chris Raguseo then took back-to-back penalties to put the Lakers in a tough spot early. Kenny Neil came up big for the Lakers without a stick at the the tail end of the 5-on-3, but the CCHL All-Graduates couldn’t beat Matt Zawadzki.
Zawadzki made six saves in the first, including a dandy off a Raguseo turnover in the slot that capped off the captain’s shaky first period. Raguseo took two penalties in the first 20, both slashing minors.
Josh Zizek would give the Lakers the lead in the second on a 2-on-1 at the 8:59 mark. Rutkowski’s clearing attempt off the glass alleviated the pressure in the Laker end and resulted in the opening goal.
David Jacobson made more than few difficult saves off deflections and through screens to keep the Lakers ahead. He looked sharp in the middle frame, stopping all 16 shots he faced. Ian Adriano relived Connor Hughes at the 9:59 mark in the period and stopped 4 of 5 shots he faced.
The final frame saw two goals, one from each team.
Cedric Hansen couldn’t handle Alex Gilmour’s shorthanded shot off his glove as it trickled passed the freshman net minder to tie the game at one at the 5:03 mark of the third period. Michael Murray and Nicholas Ngwafusi assisted on the game tying-goal.
The Lakers failed to create the majority of prime scoring chances for the remainder of the third. They finally were able to generate a 2-on-1 late in the third. Joey Davies and Trent Durocher broke into the CCHL end and Davies was able to put some air under the puck over William Cullen and onto the stick of Durocher who was able to bury it to give the Lakers the lead back. TJ Sneath was credited with the secondary assist.
Alex Botten then sealed the game at the 19:49 mark with a shot from his own end into the empty net.
Oswego State would fail to lead in the shot department (34-25), but were able to pull away with the 3-1 win after killing off eight penalties.
