The Lakers did not get off to the start they wanted to with a 4-0 loss to the London Jr. Devilettes. This is the Lakers first of two exhibition games before the regular season begins and the Lakers will use this opportunity to see where the team can improve before the regular season starts. 

The Lakers started out the first period not playing very well and looked completely out of sync as a team. They could not keep it out of their defensive zone for a majority of the period, giving the Devilettes plenty of opportunities.

Penalties were a problem for the Lakers in the first period, as a team they committed three penalties. The first penalty was a cross-check on Kate Randazzo that came halfway through the first period. The Lakers penalty kill came up strong for the team as they were able to keep the game tied at zero.

After the Lakers killed of the Devilettes power play, the team started getting more chances in the offensive zone. The Lakers had a lot of opportunities in front of the net and just could not put the puck in the net. 

At 17:20 in the first period, Adeline Kristoff took advantage of a rebound to score the first goal for the Devilettes, giving the team a 1-0 lead.

The Lakers found themselves back in the penalty box with a body-checking penalty on Madison Byrne with 1:33 left in the first period. Shortly after the first penalty, Leah Czerwinski committed a tripping penalty to put the Lakers on a five-on-three penalty kill going into the second period. 

The Lakers looked like a completely different team in the second period. As a team, the Lakers came out very aggressive and blocked significantly more shots.

This type of play helped goaltender Rachael Farmer, who made multiple impressive saves with her body and glove to help her team stay in the game. The Lakers, however, could not find the back of the net with players getting multiple chances in front.

With five minutes to go in the first, head coach Diane Dillon swapped goalies, giving freshman Tia Trovato her first time playing in net for the Lakers. Dillon saw this as a great opportunity for Trovato to get playing time in exhibition gameplay. 

“Well, you want to get over that first one right? First time you put the jersey on and the first time you skate out there and take the net,” Dillon said. “She faced a couple of really tough shots. We loved that she got out and played the puck. We’re going to work on executing that better … but I thought she did fine.” 

Heading into the third period, the Lakers got to start on the power play and had good control of the puck by creating opportunities for each other. Although the Lakers did not score, Dillon expects growth from the team and power play.” 

“We’re looking to find out who those power play players are,” Dillon said. “We didn’t have specific power play units, every line got a shot at it. Same thing with the penalty kill, so we’re looking to see who is going to rise to the top on that.”

About midway through the third period, the floodgates opened for the Devilettes, scoring three goals to hand Oswego State their first loss of the season. The Lakers would drop this one 4-0. Even though that is not the way the Lakers wanted to start their season, the team is looking to use this game and their next exhibition game to improve as a team. 

“We’re excited about it. It gives us two weeks to actually get ready,” Dillon said. “It’s tough you have got to put it into perspective after five practices that you can only cover so much. Having another exhibition game to get ready for the regular season, I think is fantastic.”

The team will use the next two weeks and its next exhibition game to improve as a team. Associate head coach Mark Digby anticipates improvement from the way the team handles the puck.

“We need to do a better job of just managing the puck in our own end,” Digby said. “Whether it’s passing, when to carry, when to move it, how to score it. Just again, little areas that early on in the season we just gotta get more comfortable. We’ll work on handling pucks, scoring pucks, and certainly like to bury one of those opportunities early in the first and just feel good about ourselves.”

The Lakers next game will be at home against William Smith College at 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 26, where the Lakers will play their last exhibition game before the start of the regular season.

Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian