The Lakers prepare to take on the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons in tonight’s ECAC West conference matchup. With the Laker’s record standing at 4-0-0, and the Red Dragon’s at 0-2-0, this might just be a walk in the park for Oswego State.

Previous Matchup

The last time the Lakers and the Red Dragons met, the Dragons fell to the Lakers with a resulting score of 4-2.  Oswego State started out the game with an early goal scored by Kendall Appelbaum at the 18:49 mark, putting the Lakers in the lead heading into the second period. The top scorer for the Red Dragons during this game, Laura Drew, scored two goals in the second period. The Lakers were quick to respond with another goal scored by Rachel Lenard, tying up the game heading into the third period. In the third, the Lakers came full force and sealed SUNY Cortland’s fate with two more goals scored by Ashley Lyman and Lizzy Marks. At the time of the season, the results boosted the Lakers season record to 2-1-1.

Goalie Matchup

Lakers: Amber Samonek was credited with the shutout game against Chatham having played the entire game while making 20 saves through 60 minutes. It is possible that she will be the starting goalie for tonight’s game as well. She uses her butterfly-style goaltending to her advantage when it comes to stopping the puck.

Red Dragons: Victoria Gibson shows potential to be the starter in this game. Last year, as a rookie Gibson made 28 saves on the season. She took the loss for SUNY Cortland in their last game against SUNY Potsdam, but that might fuel her fire to have a good game tonight.

Season Standings

Currently, Oswego State is fifth in the ECAC West conference standings and the No. 10 team in the nation so far for this season, followed by Cortland holding the eight spot in the standings.

Players to Watch

Lakers-Kendall Appelbaum

So far this season Appelbaum has shown promising potential on the ice. Last season, Appelbaum scored three goals out of 24 games played. You can tell this season that she is determined to put in more work on the ice to increase her overall season stats. In the first four games of this season she has already scored two goals. With it being so early in the season, the chances of her matching, and beating, last year’s finally tally have increased drastically. If you’ve been to a game or two, you’ll start to notice her strong on ice communication skills as well.

Red Dragons-Sydney Carlucci

This season, the Red Dragons lost nine high-scoring seniors. Carlucci has decided to step up to the plate and fill in the shoes of the graduates for her senior year. Last season, Carlucci played in 25 games and scored eight goals for the Red Dragons. She hasn’t scored so far this season, but she is credited with two assists. She is definitely someone to look out for in tonight’s game.

Game Prediction

The Lakers have been determined to pull out a winning season in the early going and it shows when they hit the ice. During their last game against Chatham, they showed great strength when it came to taking advantage of power plays. The Lakers are probably going to have a strong start that will carry them throughout the game. With the way the Red Dragons have been playing, they might face the same fate as their men’s team did last night and suffer a loss. Overall, I’m predicting the Lakers to win with a final score of 3-0.