Last Night
In their first regular season game of the season last night, Elmira College was able to upset No. 9/10 Hobart College on home ice by a score of 3-2 in overtime thanks to two Matthew Cuce goals, including the game winner. Oswego State had an eye on last night’s contest with both Coach Gosek and Coach Digby in attendance. The Lakers will play Hobart College tomorrow on the road after tonight’s clash with the Soaring Eagles.
Goaltending
David Richer will be in net for the first official start of his Lakers career. The redshirt sophomore received the starting nod last week in the exhibition against the CCHL All-Graduate Team and was perfect in a half game effort with 14 saves on 14 shots.
On the Elmira College front, freshman Jake Sabourin received his first collegiate start last night against Hobart College. The freshman was given a tally in the win column for his efforts, stopping 42 of 44 shots against the high powered offense of the Statesmen.
Players to Watch
OSW: Tyson Bruce
Last weekend against the CCHL All-Graduates, Bruce shined. With two assists, he paced the Lakers in points on the evening and earned a spot on the second line tonight. After cracking the lineup for just three games last season and an effective off season training regimen, Bruce has the potential to break out this year for Oswego State.
ELM: Matthew Cuce
Last night, Cuce stole the show for the Soaring Eagles. Not to overlook Sabourin’s 42 save effort, but Cuce was Elmira College’s top all-around performer. The sophomore scored two goals, including the overtime winner. With six goals to his credit last season as a freshman, Cuce has a scoring prowess the Lakers will need to gameplan for.
Lineup Card
OSW
Forwards:
Herlihey-D’Orazio-Gillespie
Sullivan-Emerson-Bruce
Scorpio-Zizek-Spink
Ferreira-Berry-Molinaro
Defense:
Allen-MacMillan
Campbell-Currie
Novick-Brun
Goalies:
Richer
Hansen
Nolan
Coach Gosek has elected to keep the first line from last week intact, so that may be a consistency going forward. On defense, the top pairing of Carter Allen and Chris MacMillan is one to watch to see if the freshman Allen is capable of handling the duties of defending against Elmira College’s top offensive players.
TEAL:
Tonight’s game is bigger than hockey for the Oswego State men’s hockey program. This edition of TEAL night will be the first after the loss of Mary Gosek to ovarian cancer. Mary was the wife of Coach Ed Gosek.
Prediction:
The No. 7 Oswego State Lakers came out with a strong effort last weekend and under a veteran head coach will be very aware of how important winning the first game of the season can be for their confidence. Elmira College will be riding a high coming off last night’s big upset win, but will experience a difficult atmosphere in a packed Marano Campus Center Ice Arena. The Lakers poise under Gosek will prove to be too much for the Soaring Eagles.
Final score: 5-3 Lakers.
