The Oswego State Lakers were on the verge of an upset against No. 1/2 Plattsburgh State, but could not score in the overtime period to leave the game at a 2-2 tie. The Cardinals looked like they had a 2-1 victory, but with 16.8 seconds left, Victoria Blake took a slap shot from the point which went off of a Plattsburgh State stick past goaltender Brooke Wolejko. The five minutes of overtime were quiet, even with a power play for the Lakers.

Olivia Ellis opened up the scoring at 6:23 with a slap shot in the slot off of the post. The goal was the 101st point of her career at Oswego State. Philomena Teggart had the lone assist on the play, her fifth of the season. It was only the eighth goal that Plattsburgh State has allowed in the opening period all season.

“It gives her a bit of confidence, and her linemates,” head coach Diane Dillon said. “We ran that line pretty hard today. They’ve been producing, and we’ve been getting on them about playing defensively. They’re always a threat. You’ve got Ellis and White who can move and score pucks. We’re thrilled for Ellis, she’s playing with some confidence. When she goes, so does the team.”

Notably making a bounce-back was both the defense, and senior goaltender Mariah Madrigal. The forecheck of the Lakers as well as the ability to block shots throughout the game kept the Cardinals’ offense, averaging around four goals a game, limited to two goals. Madrigal, who allowed six goals in the defeat last night. Madrigal stopped 23 shots in the game, including 13 saves during the second period.

“She is one of the most stubborn goaltenders I’ve ever, and we coached Bridget Smith,” Dillon said. “She is very determined and very focused on what she needs to do. She’s a fighter. She’s never going to quit. She’s able to throw away the trash and move on to get ready for the next shot.”

Players like Blake and Jordan Emerson stood out on defense, blocking shots, and pushing the Cardinals to the outside. Assistant coach Greg Haney, who is in charge of the defense for the Lakers, made sure to point out the adjustments they needed to make not even 24 hours after the first game.

“The defense can get things going, and tonight it definitely changed the game,” Haney said. “They did a good job, they did their patterns well. When they can move puck, it’s obviously works a lot better there.”

The forecheck was also strong throughout the first period, limiting both the offensive time Plattsburgh State had, as well as how many shots Madrigal saw. The Cardinals did not get a shot on net until there was around 10 minutes left in the opening period. In total, the Lakers only let four shots get anywhere close to the net where Madrigal had to save them.

“We’re very happy with some of the adjustments we made, the team was better sticking to our game-plan today,” Dillon said. “We didn’t give up odd-man rushes against Plattsburgh, and that’s where you can really get in trouble with these guys. I thought we did a nice job.”

During the second period, the officials made some questionable calls. The biggest question was an icing that Eryn Stewart appeared to have won the race to cancel out the icing, but after a discussion between the officials, the puck remained in the defensive zone of the Lakers.

There were a lot of penalty calls, including a couple on Teggart in both the second and third periods. Dillon claimed that this was the second day in a row they were not pleased with the calls, especially at home. She felt there were too many “white jerseys” in the box, compared to the way Plattsburgh State played. However, it did boost the adrenaline of the Lakers throughout the rest of the game.

“It gets the bench fired up and it gets the coaching staff fired up as well,” Dillon said. “We killed almost four and a half minutes of five-on-three play, and it took a power play goal to tie us. We’re frustrated at that, but anytime you can be successful on the penalty kill, it gives the team a boost.”

However, also boosting the bench was the amount of chatter that came from teammates after successful plays, or sneaky moves in the offensive zone. Multiple cheers went to Madrigal during a diving save in the third period to keep the game at 2-1 and not let it get out of hand.

In the overtime period, after a nice Laura Thacker shot that hit the pads of Wolejko, the bench made sure to cheer her name loud and clear down the ice.

“We talked about in the locker room after the game, and how it was really exciting for the coaching staff to see that,” Dillon said. “When they’re all focused on that one goal and all on the same page, it makes a huge difference. During the timeout in the overtime period, I told the girls, ‘hell I’m having a fun time and I hope you guys are too.’ We’re looking to bring that team unity back together later in the season.”

With Madrigal pulled with just under a minute to go, the Lakers had a six-on-five man advantage. It took a pass from Randazzo to Blake and a shot from the point to tie the game up and bring it into overtime. It was Blake’s first goal of the season, and only the fifth of her career. Dillon claimed Blake is one of the players is always all over the ice and is “like a deer on ice.”

“I was happy for her,” Dillon said. “She can bring a lot of energy to the game. She’s a very talented kid. I’m really happy for her to have some success, especially as a senior, against one of the top teams in the country. So are her teammates, obviously.”

The Lakers had an extra five minutes in order to try to pull off a large upset against the Cardinals. The first half of the overtime period was a lot of Plattsburgh State offense, until Kayla Meneghin was given a minor penalty for tripping. The Lakers played the last 1:37 of the overtime period on the power play, but could not convert to seal the deal. Nonetheless, Dillon said the tie gives the team confidence heading into the end of the regular season.

“It sends a message to the league that says, ‘you know, even though we’ve lost some other games, we can play,'” Dillon said. “It sends a message to our team that we’re for real, and that we have the confidence to do this. When the team is on the same page, we can play extremely good hockey. We’re looking to carry this momentum into practice this week and into Cortland.”

The Oswego State Lakers, now 8-11-2 overall and 4-7-1 in conference, will head to SUNY Cortland on Feb. 9 for the first game of a two-game weekend series. They return to the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena the next day for the grudge match.