After dropping the second of two games against SUNY Potsdam, Oswego State finds itself in a tough position in the NEWHL playoffs. It now sits at the No. 4 seed and has a tough task ahead against the No. 1-seeded Plattsburgh State Cardinals in the semifinals. The Cardinals are 16-0 in NEWHL play this season and have outscored their league opponents by a whopping 96-6. Head coach Diane Dillon understands the task ahead but knows the Lakers need to first focus within themselves. Going on the road is never an easy task, especially in the playoffs.

“First, we have to look at us – what we did well, what we didn’t do well in our last couple games and really over the month of February,” Dillon said. “It’s been a lot of games in a short amount of time, so there’s not a lot of recovery time and practice time.”

Plattsburgh State is 23-2 overall and is ranked No. 2/3 in the national polls and No. 1 in terms of the PairWise Rankings. Its 122 goals rank second in the nation, led by sophomore Annie Katonka who has 26 goals in 25 games.

“We’ve been watching a lot of film, and they don’t do anything crazy. They just do what they do very well,” Dillon said. “They’re a well-oiled machine, and they have several players that operate their system well.”

Plattsburgh State is particularly strong with its power-play unit. It ranks third in the country in both power-play goals (29) and percentage (26.9). Seven of those 29 power-play goals have come against Oswego State, including three power-play goals a game in two meetings this season. Lakers alternate captain Natalie Giglio expressed the importance of the team avoiding those big penalty minutes. 

“We’ve got to stay out of the box. That’s our biggest thing,” Giglio said. “Plattsburgh functions at around a 30 percent success level on their power play. We play well with them five on five, and when we do get opportunities, we’ve got to bury them.”

Dillon stressed the importance of executing the fundamentals of the Oswego State penalty kill, something they have not done as well in the previous meetings with Plattsburgh State.

“We have to know where that attack is going to come from and how we can best thwart second and third chances,” Dillon said. “We have to rely on our goaltender to be our best penalty killer. We want to let her see the puck, and that’s where we’ve struggled a bit with the traffic in front. We didn’t tie up well. We didn’t eliminate sticks. You rely on your goaltender to make the first save, but it’s up to the rest of the players on the ice to get rid of the second chances.”

One advantage for Oswego State has been playing these must-win-type games all month. Dillon has told the team to treat every game like a playoff game, and that has helped them prepare for the tough task this weekend.

“I think playing Williams gave us a big advantage,” Giglio said. “They’re a fast team, and that pace of hockey really got us a taste of what playoffs are about because everyone really does elevate their game. Our efforts against Potsdam were there on Friday night with the energy levels. We scored four goals, which were the most we’ve scored in a while, and that was good for the playoff push.”

The good news for the Lakers is that they have done it before. Oswego State handed the Cardinals their only loss during their 28-1-1 campaign in 2016-17 that ended in a Plattsburgh State national championship win. And it did it on the Cardinals’ home ice.

“We’re definitely the underdog, so let’s embrace it,” Dillon said. “Let’s go in there and be the spoiler. Let’s go after it. We did it before on their own ice. We can certainly do it again.”

Dillon asked the upperclassmen that were there for that 2016 upset win to describe that feeling when the final horn sounded to their younger teammates.

“We had the upperclassmen talking today about what did that feel like, what did it look like, all those things, trying to get the younger players a little excited about it instead of just being back of their heels,” Dillon said.

Plattsburgh State has owned this season’s series 4-0, outscoring the Lakers 20-2 overall. But, in a one-game elimination bracket, crazy things can happen.

“We’re excited for the opportunity because we’ve got nothing to lose,” Dillon said. “The pressure is on Plattsburgh. I’m sure they’re pretty confident going into this game as they should be, but at the same time, it’s a one-game playoff. Anything can happen.”

Puck drops at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.

Photo by Ben Grieco | The Oswegonian