At the end of the 2017-2018 regu- lar season, the Oswego State men’s hockey team fell to Plattsburgh State. Just a week later, the Lakers lost to SUNY Fredonia during the SUNYAC semifinals, ending their season on Feb. 24, 2018.
Oswego State ended its season with an 18-6-2 record, leaving its fate to the NCAA to potentially be an at-large bid for the NCAA Div. III national tourna- ment. When the Lakers were not select- ed, they were done for the season.
This season, Oswego State enters the playoffs with the same exact record, 18-5-2, after suffering a loss to the same team as last season. In this season’s second meeting between the Lakers and the Cardinals, Oswego State avoid- ed a shutout, losing 2-1.
“It’s always going to be in the back of your head,” assistant captain Josh Zizek said. “I’m confident that the team in the room is going to be ready to play Satur- day, doesn’t matter who it is.”
The Lakers will look to avenge their loss to Plattsburgh State, as they host the Cardinals for the semifinals. “To us, it doesn’t matter who we play because, at the end of the day, you’ve got to beat them,” Zizek said. “But it would be nice to get the revenge. We had their number at home, and they had us this past weekend.”
At the end of the game, there was a scrum following the last whistle of the game. Mitch Emerson was a centerpiece of the shoving. There were no penalties or suspensions given by the SUNYAC.
“I’m sure [there is] some bad blood. It will probably pick up right where it left off…,” head coach ed Gosek said. “When you have heated rivalries, hotly contested and you’re battling for every loose puck right until the end, emotions are going to get high.”
Oswego State had to wait until Wednesday to find out that Plattsburgh State would be traveling to the Marano Campus Center for the second time this season. But the team’s mindset was to focus on itself in preparation for the weekend.
“We certainly know that they have confidence, having knocked us off this past weekend,” Gosek said. “It will be an- other great Oswego-Plattsburgh rivalry.” Gosek said the coaching staff showed the team video, talked with individual players and did drills dur- ing practice to address issues from the game against Plattsburgh State this
past weekend. But the only thing that Gosek said his team focuses on, in terms of opposition, is how it will prepare for special teams, both on the power play and on the penalty kill. Oswego State is 26.3 percent on the power play, while its penalty kill is performing at 84.7 percent.
“You’re as good as your last game, and our last game wasn’t good enough,” Gosek said. “In special teams, there are adjustments and different things we look to do to try to be our best with pow- er play and penalty kill.”
Now, Gosek will be meeting Platts- burgh State’s head coach Bob Emery for the 48th time since the 2003-2004 sea- son. In that same amount of time in the playoffs, Emery boasts a 12-3-0 record over Gosek. The last time Gosek beat Emery in the playoffs was in the 2013- 2014 season, where the Lakers were vic- torious 2-1 in the semifinals.
“I mean, obviously [Emery’s] a friend, most importantly,” Gosek said. “He’s a hell of a coach. He’s got a hell of a re- cord. [He’s got] the consistency of play- ing well at the right time.”
And, for the fourth straight sea- son, Oswego State will host a semifinal matchup. Having home-ice advantage in the playoffs is always one of the team goals Gosek presents at the beginning of each season in October.
With the home-ice advantage, the Lakers play in one of the nicer rinks of the SUNYAC, one they have played and practiced in all season, as well as having 3,000 fans in attendance in playoff mode.
“It’s your rink that you’ve played on hundreds of times. It’s kind of like a safe place,” Zizek said. “You’re used to every- thing about it. It’s home for you. Just to be at home, it’s a huge advantage, and we’re happy we have it.”
With such a large roster, one that has 31 players, there is a lot of variety. The Lakers have 13 underclassmen, eight of which are freshmen. While all 31 have played at the Marano Campus Center all season, Zizek said the experi- ence of home-ice advantage is huge for the freshmen.
“For the younger guys, it’s going to be a treat for them to come into our building and have the fans,” Zizek said. “They’ve been through it for the regu- lar season, but it’s a whole new level come playoffs.”
No matter what, even though the Lakers have never not made the SU- NYAC playoffs in their recorded history, Gosek still appreciates every opportu- nity his team gets in the playoffs.
“It’s that time of the year. You work all season long for now and it goes quick,” Gosek said. “We’re into bonus time. Never take it for granted.”
Photo by Kyle Hurley | The Oswegonian
