With what was a 20-day break in between contests, the No. 1 Oswego State men’s hockey team has ample time to try to correct what went wrong in its first loss of the season back on Dec. 10 against the No. 10/11 Buffalo State Bengals.

Nearly each game this season there has been tweaks to the lineup, but the one thing that remained constant was the goalie tandem of senior Matt Zawadzki and transfer sophomore David Jacobson.

The coaches preach it, the goalies have bought in and the team is winning with tremendous work in between the pipes from one of the best goalies ever to suit up in the green and gold and a former Div. I netminder that has not disappointed anybody’s expectations. But after a 5-1 loss to SUNYAC foe Buffalo State, will the goalie rotation finally come to an end in Oswego?

No, absolutely not, and this is why.

1. It’s One Loss

It’s not time to panic. In fact, it is nowhere near that time.

This is a team that rose from not being ranked to the No. 1 team in Div. III hockey in just five weeks. 10-straight wins to start the season is not something you see everyday either. The last time the Lakers surpassed that feat was the 2010-2011 season. Oswego State won 12 in a row to start the year until it suffered a 5-2 loss on Dec. 11 against unranked Hobart College.

The Lakers still have a comfortable five-point lead in the SUNYAC with help from Zawadzki and Jacobson. Despite not playing his best game against Buffalo State, Jacobson is still one of the better goalie options in the SUNYAC.

Jacobson currently sits fourth in goals against average in the SUNYAC and 24th in all of Div. III (2.12). He also allowed only seven goals in his five starts that led up to the Buffalo State loss.  He did see a slight drop in statistical rankings, but that has a lot to do with my next point.

2. The Special Teams Battle

All season the Lakers have been successful, in part, due to the work the power play and penalty killing units have done. The penalty killing unit, including the goaltender, is operating at a more than impressive rate to this point in the season.

Prior to the Buffalo State game, the Lakers’ PK unit allowed just four goals while a man down all season. FOUR. Marcus Michalski and the rest of the Bengals’ power play was able to put three pucks behind Jacobson and the best penalty killing unit in the conference. The Lakers average only 12 penalty minutes a game, second least in the SUNYAC, but Buffalo State was able to exploit a part of the Lakers’ game that not many other teams have done thus far.

Head coach Ed Gosek constantly preaches creating grade-a scoring chances and limiting opponents’ grade-a chances as well. One could argue that any goal set up and executed while on the power play could be considered a high-quality scoring chance.

This coaching staff evaluates each goaltender on such, and the three power play goals allowed is another reason Jacobson’s spot in the goalie rotation is safe.

3. The Ignagni Effect 

Remember Adrian Ignagni?

The former Niagara University Purple Eagle may not be suiting up like last year, but the senior has played a bigger impact on the goalies, and the team as a whole, than most realize. He has yet to miss a practice or team function while finishing his degree at Oswego State, and his video work and dedication with the goalie corps has propelled their level of play and helped backstop the Lakers to the No. 1 ranking in Div. III hockey.

“I think they certainly respect the time and effort and energy that he’s putting forward for no pay,” Gosek said. “He’s in the best interest of the team.”

The coaching staff reached out to him at the end of last season to see if he was interested in helping on the staff, specifically with the three goaltenders. According to Gosek, Ignagni has “by far exceeded our expectations.”

Ignagni has taken his role seriously, whether it’s showing film on his iPad or being out early for practice. The help Zawadzki, Jacobson and Cedric Hansen get each week is sure to help correct any missteps. That’s a huge reason why Laker fans should be confident in the goalie tandem and what each netmider will continue to bring going forward.

“They have a good working relationship,” Gosek said. “It’s really for the team-first mentality. I know people don’t want to hear that. They want someone not to like someone, but right now we are very fortunate that it’s a good working relationship and all three guys get along good, and they respect [Ignagni]. He doesn’t try to change them as much as present the facts to them.”

The Final Word

Humbled: One could spin this loss as coming at a good time. The team will be rested heading into the holiday tournament in Vermont and has to be hungry to get back to their winning ways. Buffalo State is a very good team, from the goaltender out, so suffering your first loss of the season to that program is nothing to hang your head about.

As assistant coach Mark Digby put it following the 5-1 loss, “It’s good to be humbled.”