Starting New

Oswego State will start 2017 with a rematch of the 2013 Div. III National Championship. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds will come to town with not a single player on the Lakers’ roster having played this team coming out of the WIAC. With UW-Eau Claire holding the No. 4 ranking this week, this tilt becomes even more intriguing seeing the Lakers are winless in three straight after being swept in Vermont last weekend.

A win over a team in the top five of the Div. III hockey rankings is huge for any team, but a win for the Lakers tonight should silence any doubt that the first half of the season was a just a string of over performing.

“We got something to prove, right,” Shawn Hulshof said. “[We] went into last weekend being No. 1, and then lost a couple games so we have a lot to prove. And I think the guys are up for the challenge.”

Head coach Ed Gosek thought Oswego State tried to do too much individually against Nazareth College with fatigue creeping in after the special teams battle against Williams College on Friday. Gosek admitted certain players saw too many minutes in the first game of the weekend. That could have been a reason for their struggles, especially as the Saturday game went on.

Even Strength 

Goal scoring has been the difference in this three-game losing streak, especially scoring at even strength.

Oswego State has failed to score a goal at even strength since the win over SUNY Fredonia on Dec. 9. The power play has scored four goals in three games — that is worth noting — but not being able to tally one even-strength marker after this team was scoring at ease from all over the lineup in the first part of the season is a bit of a red flag.

“We haven’t scored an even strength goal since Fredonia,” Gosek said. “Where is the secondary scoring? Where are other guys coming through? It’s not one thing, it’s a combination. The first 10 games, you have both of those. A game where your top six aren’t scoring, the other guys picked it up. Or a game where [the bottom six] aren’t accomplishing scoring opportunities, the top six guys were, but now you got both not producing. That’s not a good combination.”

Team Scope

The Western Div. III hockey schools are always tough to play against. Most top teams from the west will throw speed and physicality at you all game long.

“[UW-Eau Claire is] going to be gritty,” Hulshof said. “I think they’re going to be similar to [Williams College], similar to [Nazareth College]. We know what we’re in for. This week has been a pretty hard week of practice. We’ve been battling a lot. We’re pretty ready for it, so I think come [Friday] we’ll be able to come out on top.”

UW-Eau Claire has three scorers in the top five in the WIAC currently. Patrick Moore (8-15-23), Mac Jansen (10-7-17) and Colton Wolter (10-6-16) all sit atop the WIAC in points. This could be a matchup of top six forwards for most of the night if the Lakers’ top offensive weapons can correct their scoring woes.

Lineup Card

Some huge shake-ups in the forward group are going to be on display tonight. TJ Sneath and Cameron Berry are really the only two forwards that one could not consider a “regular” in the lineup. The listed top line tonight consists of Chris Waterstreet centering Mitch Emerson and Berry. These three seem to be getting the start tonight, but won’t see traditional first line minutes.

In the Crease

David Jacobson is expected to get both starts this weekend after Zawadzki started twice this past weekend. The coaching staff is still sticking with the goalie rotation, but confirmed this week that they want to give both goalies a set of back-to-back games.

Jay Deo is the only netminder to see time this season for the Blugolds. He currently is 10-1-3 with a .915 save percentage, which sits just two points below Jacobson. Deo has not registered a shutout this season, but he has made 312 saves on 341 shots in his senior season.

Players to Watch

Lakers- Shawn Hulshof

The senior leader has to be itching to finally end this losing streak. He leads the team with 19 points and has the build and shot to score from anywhere on the ice. Oswego State got its zone time last weekend, but needed to create more grade-A chances against Nazareth College. Look for Hulshof to get a whole bunch of chances tonight as the Lakers try to snap their streak and finally tally a win after nearly a month without one.

Blugolds- Jay Deo

Any goalie that has played each game of his team’s season has be at the top of his game with all the faith of the head coach. For Lakers fans, most have not seen Deo play and this is the first chance to do so. Both these teams are stingy on defense, and Deo is a big part of his team’s success in shutting down opponent’s attacks.

By the Numbers

Record

OSW: 10-3-0/8-1-0 (No. 5) [1st in SUNYAC]

WEC: 10-1-3/2-0-0 (No. 4) [T1st in WIAC]

Shots per Game

OSW: 35.2 [2nd in SUNYAC]

WEC: 33.9 [1st in WIAC]

Goals per Game

OSW: 4.38 [2nd in SUNYAC]

WEC: 4.21 [2nd in WIAC]

Goals Against per Game

OSW: 2.00 [2nd in SUNYAC]

WEC: 2.07 [1st in WIAC]

Power Play

OSW: 15-61 (24.6%) [5th in SUNYAC]

WEC: 17-70 (24.3%) [3rd in WIAC]

Penalty Kill

OSW: 54-64 (84.4%) [1st in SUNYAC]

WEC: 65-76 (85.5%) [2nd in WIAC]

*Overall Statistics from collegehockeystats.net

Game Prediction

The Lakers have to be hungry to finally end this skid. Gosek said this week that there are not glaring issues with his team’s play. It just seems to be a different part of their game is lacking each time out, but the talent on this team is enough to get them by mos nights.

Will it be enough to top No. 4 UW-Eau Claire though?

The Blugolds have not lost since Nov. 11. UW-Eau Claire is making a long trip to get here and won’t want it to be a wasted weekend. This one should be relatively low scoring, for college standards, if both goalies play up to par. The Lakers had two good starts in Vermont and should continue that again tonight. Whatever team can get the majority of pucks to bounce their way should win with how well these two match up.

Blugolds win 3-2