OFFENSE:
The Marano Campus Center was in disbelief as the Oswego State Lakers men’s hockey team was quickly trailing to the Elmira College Soaring Eagles 2-0 just 13 minutes into the game.
Before a blink of an eye, the silent crowd would flip the switch as the Lakers tied it up 2-2, thanks to John Zizek recording his first two goals of the season.
Zizek’s first goal came at 15:37 in the first period and the second one coming just less than two minutes later at 17:10 with a power-play goal assisted from Joey Scorpio.
After a seldom second period, David Ferreira at 5:28 in the third period gave the Lakers a 3-2 edge with a power-play goal off assists from Tanner Spink and Jordy Sullivan.
The momentum continued for the Lakers, with 7:38 remaining in the game the Lakers tacked on an insurance goal as Zizek would complete the hat-trick and score off an assist from Ferreira to make it 4-2 Lakers.
The Lakers dominated the Soaring Eagles in shot-attempts (77-41) and shots (43-32).
A game with a boat-load of penalties, the Lakers had a 43% success rate on seven power-play opportunities.
DEFENSE:
Both teams were hungry for shots early on, but early penalties committed by Campbell and Ferreira gave the Soaring Eagles a 5-3 advantage. They would capitalize with a goal scored from Elmira’s Nick Ford to give them a 1-0 lead over the Lakers just less than nine minutes into the contest.
Just a few seconds after the Lakers regained full strength off a penalty, 12:51 into the first period the Soaring Eagles went up 2-0 on a goal scored by Mitch Atkins.
The second period featured a better display of defense for both sides, the Lakers cut down the Soaring Eagles shots from 16 in the first period, to just nine in the second.
The Soaring Eagles again continued to struggle to find their shots as they would only produce seven shots in the third period. The defense held tough around Chris MacMillan despite only having three blocked shots, giving their goaltender an easier night after the 0-2 hole in the first period.
GOALTENDING:
David Richer got the start in goal for the Lakers and had a rough start in the first period allowing two goals in a span of four minutes. Richer would settle in with a great second period, where he made a notable save at 17:05 as he was able to wedge the puck between his arm and body of a slap-shot and eventually fall on it.
Protecting the Laker lead for the first time of the night, Richer made an exceptional glove-hand save in the middle of the third period to avoid an equalizer from the Soaring Eagles.
Richer was in net for all 60 minutes and would finish the game with 28 saves and a .938 save percentage.
