The No. 3/4 Oswego State Lakers were upset by the SUNY Potsdam Bears on Friday, Feb. 16, by a score of 1-0 to start the annual Whiteout Weekend at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.

At 3:35 of the first period, Trent Durocher was called for a high-sticking penalty against the Bears. In the first man-advantage opportunity, SUNY Potsdam converted a mere six seconds into the power play. Joey Giloohy scored what would be the game-winning goal. Kyle Thacker and Dylan Vander Esch were credited with the assists.

The Lakers were able to kill the other two penalties they committed during the second and third period. The Tanner Spink penalty at the end of the second period was cancelled out by the Thacker roughing penalty to put the beginning of the third period at four-on-four.

On the opposite end, Oswego State power play had six chances and converted on none of them. A lot of the chances were open net opportunities past goaltender Brendan McMenimen, but players such as Michael Gillespie and Mitchell Herlihey could not convert.

“There’s not a lot of hunger there,” head coach Ed Gosek said. “We’re okay with passing the puck around the perimeter if we’re getting grade-A [opportunities] from it. But we’re not getting enough pucks through.”

It was the tale of two goaltenders, despite Oswego State’s David Richer allowing the early goal. Both McMenimen and Richer had a high number of saves throughout the game to keep an extremely low-scoring game. McMenimen kept the Lakers, who score 3.9 goals a game, off the scoreboard. The Bears were limited to one goal, despite scoring 2.9 a game, on average.

McMenimen had 42 saves during the game, and the Lakers had over 70 shot attempts. Richer stopped 20 shots over the 60 minutes.

“Their kid obviously had more grade-A saves,” Gosek said. “Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer.”

The loss to the Bears also ruined the Lakers’ attempt to complete the undefeated season in the conference. Before the game, the Lakers were 13-0-1 and were also on a nine-game point streak. They now are 13-1-1 with 27 points in the SUNYAC, six points above both SUNY Geneseo and Buffalo State.

Oswego State was two games away from the perfect SUNYAC season. This would have been the first time they did it since the 2011-2012 season. They had to beat the Bears and Plattsburgh State to accomplish the feat.

“There’s no good losses,” Gosek said. “But sometimes you need to get punched in the mouth and get some pushback. So hopefully it’s coming through at the right time.”

The last time that the Lakers lost to SUNY Potsdam was in the fall semester of 2015. On Feb. 6, 2015, the Lakers gave up back-to-back goals in the third period to lose 2-1 at the MCC Ice Arena. This game was a big upset at the end of the regular season for the Lakers. Especially during Whiteout Weekend.

“It’s an upset because you’re first in the league and the ranks and all that nonsense,” Gosek said. “They’re fighting to make sure they’re in the playoffs. We were okay, just not enough. We didn’t find a way to finish on those opportunities.”

However, on Saturday, Feb. 17, the Lakers and Plattsburgh State will add another instalment to their storied rivalry. It will be the second game of the Whiteout Weekend for the Lakers, and the second matchup between the Cardinals and Lakers this season. Oswego State took the first matchup 5-2 on Dec. 9.

The Cardinals have an 8-5-2 record at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena since the 2006-2007 season. This was the first season for the new arena, as well as the beginning of the annual. Whiteout Weekend

“I would hope that we would start to execute better,” Gosek said. “It’ll be the same tomorrow night. We need to do better tomorrow.”

The Oswego State Lakers (18-4-2, 13-1-1) will look to keep their conference losses to a minimum against Plattsburgh State (12-11-1, 6-8-1) on Feb. 17. The Cardinals are looking to bounce back after a tie against SUNY Cortland to maintain a spot in the SUNYAC playoffs.