Quick Recap: Men’s Hockey vs. SUNY Fredonia 2/17
The No. 2/3 Oswego State Lakers knocked of SUNY Fredonia by a final score of 2-1 to gain their 24th and 25th points of the season, to clinch the SUNYAC regular season title and the top seed in SUNYAC playoffs.
Tonight’s contest featured a Lakers team looking to put the cherry on top of a wildly successful regular season, and a Blue Devils squad looking to bolster their SUNYAC playoff seed.
It was obvious both teams had something to play for, as both teams came out desperate to accomplish their goals and pick up much needed points.
The Lakers already clinched the top seed in the SUNYAC playoffs, but needed one more point to lock up the regular season title.
As a result, the Lakers played their cleanest game of the season, picking up only two penalties and playing fundamentally sound hockey for the entirety of the game.
The goaltender matchup was a competitive one, with Oswego State’s David Jacobson, looking for his twelfth win of the season, facing off against SUNY Fredonia’s Eric Bogart.
Chris Waterstreet opened the scoring for tonight’s contest with a tip off a Stephen Johnson point shot past the blocker of Bogart to put the Lakers up 1-0 just 7:26 into the game for his fifth goal of the year.
Johnson picked up his 21st assist on the season, and his 28th total point, which increased his point lead for Lakers defensemen to 12.
The first period ended with a 1-0 score and 11-8 shot advantage in favor of the Lakers.
Andrew Barton added to the Lakers lead in the second period at 7:48 after sending a wide-open rebound past the glove of Bogart to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead. Mitchell Herlihey led the play, taking the shot that would eventually lead to Barton’s 10th goal of the season.
That was the only score of the second period, but the Lakers had complete control the entire frame. Oswego State boosted their lead in shots to 27-15, in addition to completely controlling the pace of the game.
Fredonia tightened the score to 2-1 on their best scoring chance of the night at 7:54 of the third when Samuel Wilbur was able to finish a 2 on 1 back-door feed from Jacob Haynes past the right leg of a sprawled Jacobson.
Even with flurries of momentum from the Blue Devils for the remainder of the game, Jacobson and the Lakers defensive corps were able to hold down the lead and give the Lakers a 2-1 win.
The Lakers are now 19-4-1 with a 12-2-1 record in the SUNYAC and will close out their regular season matchup with a matchup against the Buffalo State Bengals tomorrow night at Marano Campus Center.
