The No. 8/10 Oswego State women’s ice hockey team is coming up on the end of the regular season that has been a historic one for the program.

Though their final playoff seed has yet to be determined, this season can already be called a wildly successful one. The team is on the cusp of hosting a playoff game, they have been the only team all season to beat national powerhouse SUNY Plattsburgh on the road, and already improved their win total by four games with two more games remaining.

There are many things that can be pointed to when it comes to the Lakers turnaround from last season. The addition of an incredibly talented freshman class, an extra year of experience for the veteran players, and the emergence of goaltender Mariah Madrigal can all be looked at as reasons for success. However, the most effective asset to the team’s turnaround has been their success on the power play.

By boosting their power play success rate by 6.6 percent from last season to now be converting 22.9 percent of their man-advantage opportunities, their power play now ranks first in the ECAC Women’s West. They have scored 22 of their 77 total goals while on the power play.

“It all starts with having talented kids that can handle the puck,” said head coach Diane Dillon. “We have our seniors, coupled with the addition of a couple really talented freshmen, who are really helping out.”

The biggest contribution to the boosted power play, according to Dillon, is confidence.

“You can see the difference, the girls are confident out there,” Dillon said. “And we’re getting good looks.”

The good looks that the Lakers see on the man-advantage are a combination of an effective system combined with players who are talented enough to execute. The first power play unit, consisting of Olivia Ellis, Alexa Aramburu, Alli Ullrich, Kendall Applebaum and Andrea Noss, all play their roles perfectly. It is not difficult to realize why this unit has achieved so much success, when five of the top six scorers on the team are on the ice at the same time.

“Ullrich quarterbacks PP1, she’s obviously a very talented young lady and playing with a lot more confidence than she ever has,” Dillon said.

Ullrich is tasked with being the only player on the point during a power play, which allows her to be the lead playmaker of the unit, evidenced by her nine power play assists on the season. “We’ve been perfecting this system for three years.” Ullrich said. “It’s really nice because there’s always so many options.”

Ellis and Aramburu, the top two scorers on the team, spend their power play time patrolling the side boards and waiting for clear opportunities to unleash their devastating shots.

“Then there’s Ellis and Aramburu on the flanks, and they both spend a lot of time working on their shot,” Dillon said. “We have Applebaum in the middle, who attracts a lot of attention and screens a lot of goaltenders.”

Applebaum spends her time set up in between the two scoring forwards, looking to set screens on opposing goaltenders and tip their shots.

“We’ve got Noss down below the goal line, who is very crafty and has really great vision,” Dillon said. “She gets lost behind the play and the other team forgets about her and allows us to create.”

Noss does the same job as Ullrich, except from behind the net. She is responsible for distributing the puck the scorers in front and forcing the defense to spread out.

“We practice the power play two days a week, we watch film, and we know what the other team’s penalty kill is like and we got to do to beat it,” Ellis said.

Each member of the top power play unit all sit inside the top 20 in the ECAC Women’s West for power play points.

Of all the aforementioned attributions to the Lakers unprecedented success this season, the top power play unit is easily one of the most valuable. The ability to take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes with such great efficiency is an asset that will make or break their season as the playoffs are set to begin.