Plattsburgh– The No. 4/5 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team completed the weekend sweep with a 4-1 win over No. 8/9 SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday night.

The Lakers are now 7-0-0 overall on the season and head into the Thanksgiving break riding a large wave of momentum. This was the first time since December of 2014 that the Lakers were able to knock off their conference rivals.

Oswego State got on the board first thanks to David Ferreira and the rest of the fourth line. This gave the Lakers the edge they needed to stay ahead in this crucial matchup, despite not having the start they wanted.

“It’s always important [in Plattsburgh] to gain some momentum and gain the confidence you need, even though I thought the first period was very sloppy,” head coach Ed Gosek said postgame. “Unfortunately, the same as last night, that we threw a lot of pucks away. We didn’t skate. We didn’t play smart defensively, just tried to take the easy way out.”

David Jacobson appeared in his fourth game tonight and made 17 saves on 18 shots. The only goal allowed came off the stick of Plattsburgh’s leading goal scorer, Cole Stallard, as he broke down the near side and beat Jacobson glove side.

“I’m just going to boil it down to I picked it up late,” Jacobson said. “I haven’t seen the video yet. That’s kind of how I make those decisions. I don’t want to jump and make a decision. Probably in a realistic world I should’ve saved that, would’ve been an easy save I guess you can say.”

A strong second period, again much like Friday night’s game against SUNY Potsdam, proved to be the difference for the Lakers. Oswego State only added one goal to their 2-1 lead in the middle frame, but they limited most of Plattsburgh’s scoring chances and heavily out shot the Cardinals by 18 (29-11) after the horn sounded to end the second period.

“I thought we were aggressive when we could be aggressive,” Gosek said. “We were patient and did a much better job in the second period in not letting them break out up the middle and keeping them to the outside … So, I don’t think we gave them as much in the second as we did in the first because we were smarter, that’s all.”

This seemed to take any confidence away as the period went on from this young Cardinals team that dressed 15 underclassmen.

The depth of the Lakers’ forward group showed tonight. Every line was impactful and the Cardinals never were able to take control of the pace of play.

“It’s a game of momentum and I thought we kept them from really gaining any,” Gosek said. “Anytime they did, we had a good shift. A good offensive shift or a solid defensive shift where we limited their chances. I think we fed off of that. The guys started buying in to playing smart and not feeling like we have to score off of every line rush.”

The fourth line of Ferreira, Chris Watersteet and Aaron Huffnagle produced a combined five points and put two pucks in the net. Constant line changes haven’t plagued the Lakers to this point in the season. It seems that no matter what the line combos are, something will click with one of them.

“We’re changing up the lines, you just happen to be playing with different guys all throughout the week in practice,” Waterstreet said. “So, it’s pretty easy for us to find each other. Everyone is on the same page, and like I said, it was a good team win this weekend.”

Going into the final stanza, Oswego State didn’t need any more goals. However, Alex Botten’s shot from far out deflected off of Mitchell Herlihey’s stick as he drove to the net. The puck then somehow got past a frustrated Brady Rouleau to give the Lakers even more breathing room with 15:55 remaining in regulation.

Oswego State now needs one more win to match their best start since the 2012-2013 season. The first loss of that year came against Plattsburgh on Dec. 1.

After a weekend away from the rink, the Lakers will play a home-and-home with the 1-6-1 Morrisville State Mustangs on Dec. 3 and 4.