The No. 3 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team was able to finish the season series sweep of the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons with a 7-3 victory after a wild start to the game.

Oswego State seemed to feed off a lively crowd in the first game back with classes in session. A very fast, solid start was slowed down as the period would go on, but the three-goal lead gave the Lakers enough of a cushion to build upon in the latter portion of the contest.

The scoring started when Mitchell Herlihey was able to get some pressure on SUNY Cortland goaltender Drew Weigman from in behind the net. The puck then squirted out to the slot and David Ferreira was able to tap home an easy one for the game’s opening goal at 1:29 of the first period.

A quick answering goal doubled the Lakers’ lead just over a minute later. Joey Scorpio put home his third of the year at 2:34 of the first when a slick pass across the slot from Chris Waterstreet opened up a shooting lane for Scorpio.

Ferreira’s second of the game, and fifth of the season, would make it a 3-0 contest just 3:21 into regulation. Room in the slot and juicy rebound allowed Ferreira another chance at a practically wide open net. Andrew Barton and Shawn Hulshof were credited with the assists on the final Laker goal of the period that prompted an early Red Dragon timeout.

Oswego State was also able to kill off Chris Raguseo’s questionable holding call early on without allowing a Red Dragon shot on net. The momentum was all tilted toward Oswego State as they carried play in the early going, making it seem like the fans at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena were in store for another blowout.

“I thought our transition off of the backcheck, off the back pressure, was the best that it had been in a long, long time the first 11 to 12 minutes,” head coach Ed Gosek said post game. “Then I thought it was unfortunately a slow decline.”

Drazen Zack was able to get SUNY Cortland on the board at the 16:26 mark of the first period. Zack waited on a slow moving puck through the far-side circle and fired home a one timer that cleanly beat David Jacobson to cut into the Laker lead. Dan Broderick was given the lone assist to make it a 3-1 game heading into the first intermission.

The Red Dragons were able to get the next goal to bring themselves within one while on the power play. Just 1:18 into the middle stanza, Tommy Nolan took a turnaround shot from in the high slot, and the prayer of a shot attempt was able to find its way by Jacobson as Dan Broderick was able to direct it home to bring the score to 3-2.

“The score could have been a lot different after the first with the [grade-a chances] that we had that we just didn’t finish on,” Gosek said. “So, I can’t fault the guys, and even when they make it 3-2, we’re playing pretty good. It’s not like we are giving them a lot of grade-a chances. It’s not like we’re creating big mistakes like we did last Saturday night.”

The Red Dragons’ power play, which was 18-84 coming in, was able to go 2-5 on the night. This includes a stellar middle period where the special teams units were able to go 2-2 and make this a close hockey game.

“We have to be better,” Gosek said. “That’s the bottom line with the PK. They’ve been very good, and that’s not to fault any one individual, it just seemed like we were out of sync with how we were going to pressure.”

Joey Davies extended his goal streak to five games with a tally shortly after the Broderick goal to answer the Red Dragons’ response to start the second period.

Josh Zizek also helped the Lakers get some insurance before SUNY Cortland would score its second power play goal of the period with help from Darren McCormick’s 17th goal of the season to make it 5-3.

SUNY Cortland would have to overcome another two-goal deficit in the third period to be able to have a chance of salvaging any points.

The Dragons would fail to do so, as the Lakers wanted to keep things simple with solid play in the defensive zone moving out.

“Just play good defensively [in the third],” Gosek said. “Let’s not develop bad habits. Let’s forget the scoreboard. Let’s stick with the process of making us a better team in the third, and I thought defensively we got back on track. Honestly, you saw it, the majority of our chances start when we play good defense and transition the other way.”

The sixth Laker goal was the result of just this. Oswego State getting that next goal and not allowing SUNY Cortland to come within one goal, yet again, was key in the third period.

The play started with a flip off the glass and out from Kristoffer Brun. Shawn Hulshof, who later scored and put up three assists on the night, carried the puck through the neutral zone and dropped it off for Kenny Neil at the blue line. Neil then found Brun all alone as he stepped up into the play and widened the Lakers’ lead to 6-3.

Hulshof would seal it with a 5-on-3 power play goal at 12:11 of the final frame to give the Lakers 21 SUNYAC points on the season and an even bigger hold on first place. SUNY Geneseo and Buffalo State both lost tonight, and both teams now sit eight and 10 points back of first place, respectively.

Oswego State is now 15-3-1/10-1-1 after the 7-3 win in the only game of the weekend. The Lakers have now played in seven games this season that were decided by four goals or more. SUNY Cortland currently sits at 8-10-1/4-6-0 after tonight’s defeat.

Final shot totals also favored Oswego State, 36-15.

The Lakers will have the small amount extra time off with no game on Saturday to prepare for Whiteout Weekend. The SUNY Potsdam Bears and Plattsburgh State Cardinals come to town for the most anticipated weekend on the Oswego State hockey schedule each year.