For the Oswego State campus and men’s ice hockey program, the Oct. 28 matchup against Elmira College has an added dimension of meaning for the third annual TEAL (Tell Every Amazing Lady) Game.

Teal is the official color of ovarian cancer awareness, an issue that is close to the heart of men’s hockey head coach Ed Gosek and many others due to the recent death of his wife, Mary Gosek due to ovarian cancer on June 3.

Approximately 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mary’s sister, Susan DiBlasi, is in charge of the TEAL Gate event, which is an effort to help her sister’s legacy live on and raise awareness among Oswego State students and Oswego residents.

“We’re trying to make it really loud to make sure the silent killer is heard,” DiBlasi said.

TEAL Gate will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in between the men’s and women’s games and will feature live music, games for children and food to help raise awareness for ovarian cancer.

For Ed, this event has always held a special meaning to him, which has been amplified with the loss of his wife.

“[Mary’s] goal was to raise awareness for other ladies,” Ed said. “So, hopefully, if the symptoms get caught early and they can avoid what she had to go through.”

Mary, who was a computer program analyst at Oswego State for 34 years and a lifelong Oswego resident, had a profound impact on the campus and beyond. She was the founder of the nonprofit organization Peaceful Remedies, the president of the Oswego chapter of Hope For Heather and an active member of the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.

Ed recalled the many times that Mary would put others before herself to ensure that people were educated about ovarian cancer.

“She wanted to try to do her part for TEAL with ovarian cancer,” Ed said. “She lobbied in Albany, she was invited to speak on Capitol Hill, and she developed a relationship with a lot of our politicians that jumped on board. She used her own story and experience to raise awareness.”

Students and faculty on the Oswego State campus have also shown their support for ovarian cancer awareness with teal pumpkins throughout the Campus Center and teal merchandise in The College Store.

“Our staff, the college, the athletic department, President Stanley, her sisters, her friends, her nonprofit Peaceful Remedies, they’re all a part of keeping this going,” Ed said.

Before the game, there will be a promotion to hand out teal shirts to the first 2,500 fans in attendance.

“They’ve raised the money to give everybody here a teal t-shirt to help spread awareness back home in the summers in their communities and on campus,” Ed said.

For Ed, teal means spreading the meaning for all women who can potentially be affected by ovarian cancer in the future.

“There is no early detection. There is no test,” Ed said. “Very often, it’s nothing, but you never know. Anything we can do here on campus with students here, going back to their moms, their grandmothers, their sisters, their girlfriends, whether it’s a guy or girl, is huge.”

Though the backdrop to the game is raising awareness for ovarian cancer, there is still a hockey game to be played.The loss of Mary changes the tone of this year’s rendition of the TEAL Game, compared to past years.

For as long as Ed has been the head coach at Oswego State, Mary also made her stamp on the program behind the scenes.

“I met her my freshman year, and she was just a little ball of energy and joy,” said Mitch Herlihey, captain of the men’s hockey team. “She’d do so much for us. She’d do so much for Eddie. She was our mom.”

Herlihey has been with the team since the inception of the TEAL Game and does not want to let the death of Mary to overshadow the team’s goal of winning their first regular-season game.

“We’ve been doing it for three years now, and obviously, it’s a little different,” Herlihey said. “I know Mary would want us to approach it like it was another game.”

Off the ice, Mary had a hand in helping the team with their preparation, and the loss of that is something Herlihey knows the team will miss.

“We’re going to find out all that she did for us this year,” Herlihey said. “It’s already little things that she did that nobody’s doing now. We miss her a lot, and we wish her family and friends well.”

Fans may notice a few changes in the rink this year. Every team member will now wear a Totally TEAL patch on their jerseys over their heart. There is also a teal ribbon that has been painted on the ice. Mary’s regular seat will feature a Totally TEAL Lakers jersey with her name on the back.

In addition to the team missing her support, Ed will also miss everything that she brought to the team off the ice.

“She was a supporter of all of us,” Ed said. “We certainly miss her here. She was our biggest fan.”

Photo Provided by Ed Gosek via Twitter