The No. 2/3 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team made easy work of the SUNY Canton Kangaroos with a 6-1 statement win Friday night. Oswego State is now 17-4-1/11-2-1 on the season. SUNY Canton dropped to 7-15-2 after the loss.
A first period explosion from Oswego State’s power play was eventually all the Lakers would need to fend off SUNY Canton, thanks Zach Pease’s five minute boarding major and Kasey Kulczycki’s interference minor at 7:06 and 10:12 of the first period, respectively. Kenny Neil, Joey Davies and Chris MacMillan added goals during the extended power play time.
Davies’ 11th goal of the season came with a two-man advantage, while the other two power play tallies from Neil and MacMillan were scored 5-on-4.
Tyson Bruce would also score in the first period. Chris Waterstreet and Josh Zizek would widen the Lakers’ lead in the two periods that followed. MacMillan’s and Bruce’s goals were both career firsts for the two freshmen.
Bruce had played in the least amount of games among Oswego State skaters coming into tonight. His last appearance was back on Dec. 3 against Morrisville State.
“It was great to get it,” Bruce said. “It’s something you think about as soon as you get here, and you know you want to get that first one out of the way. It was good to finally get it.”
To say the first period was one sided would be an understatement. Oswego State was good from the opening whistle en route to four goals in the opening stanza. SUNY Canton was held without a shot, took a timeout and changed goaltenders to complete its miserable first 20 minutes.
“They were down for [11] minutes out of the 20 in the first period,” head coach Ed Gosek said post game. “It was a good start. We got the goals. We got some momentum. We put them back on their heels.”
Oswego State finished with 11 shots in the first period and 20 shot attempts. Austin Washkurak was pulled after stopping five shots and allowing four goals. Josh Erickson replaced the freshman in net after the ‘Roos took a timeout following the Bruce goal at the 12:16 mark of the first.
David Jacobson had an easy night in net. He did not have to face a single shot in the first period, but made five saves on six attempts in the second stanza. Freshman Cedric Hansen appeared in his second game as a Laker in relief and stopped all 10 shots he faced in an impressive third period from the former Gloucester Ranger.
“We put Hansen in because the kid battles everyday in practice,” Gosek said. “He comes with a smile on his face, has a great attitude, and he’s been good all season quite frank.”
Both teams would trade goals in the second period. Waterstreet’s shot from the high slot through a partial screen extended the Lakers’ lead to 5-0. But the penalty kill issues for Oswego State continued. Joey Vocino was able to slip undetected backdoor and bury a pass from Vili-Jesper Koivula at 7:16 of the middle period while Waterstreet was in the box on Oswego State’s second penalty of the contest.
However, Oswego State rebounded and was able to kill off each of SUNY Canton’s next four power play chances for a 5-6 success rate on the night.
“I thought the penalty kill was better, attention to detail,” Gosek said. “We had a few lapses, I thought. It wasn’t us making plays, as much them making a mistake with the puck, but they moved the puck well. They did some good things. It was a good challenge for our [penalty kill].”
Hansen’s play in the third period kept the ‘Roos from chipping away at the lead. He made his first save just 20 seconds into the final period on a Josh Sova breakaway. Hansen impressed on more than a few SUNY Canton chances as they tried to control the flow and save face before regulation ended.
The ‘Roos outshot Oswego State 10-8 in the third period for a 60-minute total of 16, but the Lakers won the overall shot battle on the night, 33-16.
“Our attention to detail with protecting a lead or playing with a lead was, you know, not good,” Gosek said. “The third period we need to be a lot better. A lot of guys selfishly looking for offense, looking for points instead of taking care of our own end and playing a solid game.”
Oswego State will see SUNY Canton again tomorrow to complete the back end of this weekend’s home-and-home. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Roos House Athletic Center.
Scoresheet
Oswego State: Zizek 1-1-2, Hulshof 0-2-2, Johnson 0-2-2, Neil 1-0-1, Waterstreet 1-0-1, Bruce 1-0-1, MacMillan 1-0-1, Davies 1-0-1, Galati 0-1-1, Federow 0-1-1, Barton 0-1-1, Brun 0-1-1, Botten 0-1-1,
SUNY Canton: Vocino 1-0-1, Koivula 0-1-1, Bullard 0-1-1
