Kenny Neil’s offensive explosion moved No. 2/3 Oswego State (20-4-1/13-2-1) past the No. 13 Buffalo State Bengals (17-7-1/9-6-1) in the final game of the 2016-2017 regular season. Four goals from Neil was all Oswego State eventually needed to beat the Bengals with a 6-1 victory on senior night.

Oswego State suffered its first loss of the season to Buffalo State back on Dec. 10, but was able to avenge the loss tonight with a lopsided victory over the nationally ranked Bengals.

“We know the last time we played them we didn’t have a very good game just before Christmas there,” Neil said. “We knew tonight was a big game even though we already clinched first. We didn’t have that in mind. We knew that we had revenge on these guys and we played pretty good.”

Matt Zawadzki returned from injury and played two periods while making just seven saves through 40 minutes. David Jacobson relieved Zawadzki in the final period of regulation and made six stops in 20 minutes of action. Mike DeLaVergne was also pulled from this game. Andrei Svistunov replaced DeLavergne after the senior allowed four goals on 22 shots in 37:02 of playing time.

The game started with Buffalo State’s Zach Remers having to be stretchered off the ice just 12 seconds into regulation.

Oswego State followed up the injury timeout with the game’s first tally. Neil was driving below the goal line when he found Andrew Barton open in the slot. Barton’s 11th of the year was scored just 39 seconds into the game, and he now has scored in three-straight contests.

“It was a nice pass out [from below the goal line],” head coach Ed Gosek said postgame. “We had some nice goals tonight, some nice hard-working goals and some nice plays. I thought our puck distribution and puck movement tonight [was] much better tonight. For whatever reason, it seems like the second night’s better.”

The Lakers were able to open it up in the second period, unlike Friday night’s contest against SUNY Fredonia, with three goals on 12 shots.

The first goal of the period was courtesy of the senior Neil on the power play.  He darted off the faceoff and waited out DeLaVergne for his 14th goal of the season just 1:16 into the period.

“[Botten] just ended up getting a nice stick on it and tipped it to me,” Neil said. “I guess their [defense] jumped, which was kind of lucky.”

Cameron Berry gave the Lakers some insurance less than a minute later. He drove hard to net and beat DeLaVergne for his third goal of the season. Devin Campbell and Chris Waterstreet transitioned the puck up ice and were credited with assists on the game’s third goal.

Buffalo State got on the board and inched closer at 17:02 of the middle frame, making it a 3-1 affair. Johnathan Colley scored off  a rebound chance when a sprawling Zawadzki could not recover after making the initial save from the point. This goal came just as Shawn Hulshof’s hooking minor expired.

From here on out, Oswego State added three more goals, all thanks to the senior Neil. His goal total now sits at 17 on the season following his four-goal performance. This was the first time in Neil’s Laker career that he was able to net four goals in a single contest.

“It’s a good way to go out, but hopefully we have a couple more games to play here and hopefully pop a few more goals for the guys.”

Oswego State will now await its opponent in the semifinals of the SUNYAC playoffs. The Lakers will play the lowest remaining seed at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25.

“You don’t want to back into the playoffs, you don’t want to go in with any reservations,” Gosek said. “So, I think the attitude is in place now to give our best effort next Saturday night, and that’s all you can ask for.”