After a six-year losing streak, the Oswego State men’s hockey team defeated Plattsburgh State on home-ice in the Whiteout Weekend with a 4-0 shutout Saturday night.

The last time the Lakers were victorious over the Cardinals at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena was on Feb. 17, 2012. That same game was also the last time Plattsburgh State was shutout by Oswego State. In 2012, the then-No. 1 Lakers won 3-0. During that season, current assistant coach Jon Whitelaw was a senior on the men’s hockey team. He had a goal in the game to push the lead to 2-0. The last Laker to win the Whiteout game against Plattsburgh State was Justin Gilbert, who graduated in 2016. He was a freshman during that season.

Kristoffer Brun and Cameron Berry were both freshmen during Gilbert’s senior year, and had not won a Whiteout game in their collegiate career. Both of them, along with senior Devin Campbell who transferred from Niagara University his sophomore year, were able to win their final Whiteout game.

“It makes me feel old,” Whitelaw said.

Overall, Oswego State was able to sweep the Whiteout Weekend and got four league points after the 5-2 win over SUNY Potsdam Friday night. The Lakers now boast a 5-2-0 SUNYAC record, and have 10 points. They are tied for third in the league with SUNY Fredonia, and still one point behind Plattsburgh State.

Compared to both the games last weekend against SUNY Geneseo and Friday’s game against SUNY Potsdam, the Lakers were able to successfully kill all of their penalties. During the other games, the Lakers went 2-4 both times and gave up two goals while on the man-disadvantage both times. Gosek said between the strong play on the penalty kill and power play made the difference.

Mitch Emerson was able to tally a late power play goal in the third period, while Josh Nenadal was able to score the fourth and final goal of the game while shorthanded. Nenadal’s goal was also an empty-net goal. The Lakers’ power play went 1-3 while the penalty kill went 5-5.

“I thought we had good puck movement. We had some good looks,” Gosek said. “Teams are tight, teams are close. Our conference, any night, top to bottom, you have to be prepared.”

David Richer stopped all 21 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season. The shutout was his third career, after posting two during his sophomore campaign last year. Richer was also named the first star of the game.

Despite almost losing the shutout with a bobbled puck with around a minute to go in the game, Gosek was pleased with his overall performance.

“He was sharp, kept us in there. In these games, your goalie needs to be your best player. He was,” Gosek said.

After some more line combination rotations again from the game against SUNY Potsdam to the game against Plattsburgh State, the defense was a lot more collected and was able to clear the puck easier. The entire defense was also key in keeping the pucks to the outside in its own zone to avoid any dangerous shots from the Cardinals. There was only one concerning moment for the coaching staff, Gosek said, during a three-on-two breakaway for the Cardinals, but Oswego State was able to stop the play.

Assistant coach Mark Digby, Gosek said, has been working with the defense in the recent weeks to not be puck-focused and keeping the opposing forwards in front of them.

Gosek said the defense did not mess with the puck too much in its own zone, and quickly pushed the puck toward the offensive zone.

“We simplified things. We didn’t over complicate,” Gosek said. “I thought that was a step in the right direction and our passing was there.”

From the offensive side of things, there were still more changes, as well. But one line that remained the same was the first line that consisted of Michael Gillespie, Anthony Passero and Travis Broughman. Passero opened up scoring in the game at 5:47 of the second period, with assists from Gillespie and Broughman. The goal came from the backdoor after a cross-ice pass from Gillespie past Plattsburgh State’s Jimmy Poreda.

Even though Josh Zizek scored a hat-trick against SUNY Potsdam, Gosek said he felt that first line was the most “cohesive unit.”

“It would be nice if they could keep it going. I thought, last night, they were probably our most consistent line,” Gosek said. “They were fun to watch and had some chemistry there. They feed off each other.”

Rounding out the scoring for the Lakers was Josh LeBlanc, who was pushed to the second offensive line against the Cardinals. He scored at 9:31 of the second period to push the Lakers’ lead to 2-0. Other than the goal he got in the second, he also had some other key opportunities right up front near Poreda’s crease. While he was not able to put everything on net, he still finished with two shots.

The goal was the first of his collegiate career. Gosek called him a “rink rat.”

“He’s going to be a good college hockey player. He’s got a long ways to go. But we’re pleased with his progress,” Gosek said. “As a coach, you have a soft spot for people that do the extra without doing it to be noticed..You do it long enough, you learn to appreciate kids like that.”

In general, Gosek said the game was well-fought by both teams and neither team gave up a ton of ice team to its opponents. The game was also well-disciplined, avoiding any unnecessary “cheap” hits, as Gosek called them, saying that Plattsburgh State’s head coach, Bob Emery, keeps his teams well-disciplined.

After not playing up to Gosek’s standards for the full 60 minutes against SUNY Potsdam, he said his team was able to carry the momentum from the third period against the Bears and carry it into tonight’s game to play the full 60-minute contest.

“You had to earn everything you got [tonight],” Gosek said. “It wasn’t like there were a lot of blatant mistakes by either team. I thought it was a tight checking game.”

Now, the team heads into its Christmas break before returning to the ice on Dec. 29 and 30 against Williams College. The Ephs were the last undefeated team in Div. III hockey before falling to SUNY Geneseo on Nov. 25. Following the two-game series with Williams College, the Lakers will host their own tournament on Jan. 4 and 5, with the opening game against Salve Regina University. Gosek called it a tough road ahead of them.

But, even though Oswego State, who now sits at 7-2-0 (5-2-0 SUNYAC), got a shutout win against its biggest rivals in Plattsburgh State, Gosek said the team is still looking for its identity between shifting line combinations around to find chemistry heading into the second half of the season.

Gosek said the Lakers are starting to become multi-dimensional, which helps.

“I think we can play a heavy game when necessary. I think we can play a speed game when necessary,” Gosek said. “I thought tonight was a step in the right direction.”

No. 8/9 Oswego State (7-2-0, 5-2-0 SUNYAC) will take a couple weekends off for the Christmas break before hitting the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena on Dec. 29 and 30 against Williams College (5-2-1, 4-1-1 NESCAC).

Cover photo by Greg Tavani | The Oswegonian