The rematch of the 2013 National Championship saw the No. 5 Oswego State Lakers end its three-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to move onto the championship of the Pathfinder Bank Hockey Classic.

UW-Eau Claire was able to come within one in a third-period comeback that just fell short in a thriller of a contest between two teams that don’t play each other often.

Andrew Barton was able to deflect Stephen Johnson’s shot from the far-side circle to open the scoring at 12:27 of the first. This was the first time since the sweep over the Morrisville State Mustangs that the Lakers scored the first goal of the contest.

The first period ended with Oswego State holding onto a 1-0 lead after an onslaught in the final two minutes from the UW-Eau Claire attack. David Jacobson made the majority of his nine first-period saves in the latter portion of the frame to keep the one-goal lead intact.

The Lakers led 10-9 in shots and 14-8 in faceoffs after the horn sounded to end the opening period.

Two power goals from the Lakers in the middle frame extended their lead to 3-0 and snapped an 0-8 skid on the power play.

TJ Sneath scored the first with a deflection that bounced off the ice and past Deo. Chris Raguseo’s point shot after he received a pass from Mitchell Herlihey helped pad the Lakers’ lead to 2-0 at 10:07 of the first.

Late in the second, Matt Galati scored his ninth of the season with his patented one-timer from the dot that just beat Deo. Alex Botten and Shawn Hulshof were credited with the assists on the Lakers’ second of the period at 18:32.

The Blugolds could not sustain the same attack that put the Lakers on their heels to end the first as they only managed three shots in the middle frame. Oswego State put up 10 shots on Deo to lead 20-12 in shots after 40 minutes of play.

The third period saw UW-Eau Claire cut the lead to two at the 5:47 mark of the final frame. Todd Korizinsky put home a juicy rebound off the pad of Jacobson. Colton Wolter’s shot bounced right to Korizinsky at the hash marks, and he was able to beat Jacobson as he scrambled into position. David Henry was given the secondary assist on the first Blugold goal.

The Blugolds were not done just yet.

At the 13:17 mark of the third period, the Blugolds were able to come within one off a deflection. Patrick Moore tipped Lucas Kohls’ point shot to make it a 3-2 game. Adam Knochenmus was credited with the secondary assist on the Blugold’s second goal of the period.

Oswego State was able to hold on and beat the No. 4 Blugolds after Deo was pulled with under 40 seconds left in regulation.

The final shot total was 28-21 in favor of the Lakers as they moved to 11-3-0 on the season. The Blugolds fell to 10-2-3 after this loss in the second game of the Pathfinder Bank Hockey Classic.