Forty penalty minutes, 11 different goal-scorers, one power play goal and two wins sums up the Oswego State men’s hockey team’s two exhibition games.

The Lakers’ two exhibitions were a 9-1 win over Carleton Place from the Central Canada Hockey League and then a 4-3 win against Nazareth College on Saturday. 

Over the course of the two games, 16 players registered at least one point, highlighted by Derek Brown’s hat trick in the game against the Canadians.

“He came in the entire next week, and he was smiling ear-to-ear. He’s excited to be there. It’s contagious,” captain Josh Zizek said. “To have it start off in such a good way, I think it’s just going to be positive for him.”

Oswego State only had to kill one penalty against Carleton Place, which it killed, but it committed a lot more penalties that were washed out by Carleton Place penalties. Toward the middle of the second period, Travis Broughman got a 10-minute misconduct along with a two-minute minor for roughing. Brown also got a minor roughing call.

On the opposite end, the Lakers scored one power-play goal in their six opportunities against Carleton Place.

It was not the same story against Nazareth College, however, where Oswego State committed seven penalties and were forced to kill five of them. The Golden Flyers ended up scoring with two seconds left in the second period on the Joey Scorpio cross-check.

“It’s early in the season, guys are taking penalties where they probably shouldn’t,” junior Carter Allen said. “All in all, we want to stay out of the box. If we can avoid that in the future, that’s great. But, we’ll chalk it up for experience and move on.”

Michael Gillespie was charged with a 10-minute misconduct and eventually pulled from the game by head coach Ed Gosek, as he did not return in the third period.

“Just our behavior in some areas and our body language, it’s not what we expect. It’s not to the standard that we hold ourselves to,” Gosek said. “The discipline, and all those areas, has to improve if we’re going to have any chance.”

All three of Oswego State’s goaltenders got opportunities to play in the exhibition games, each getting a period of action in both games. David Richer played in the second period against Carleton Place and the first period against Nazareth College. Cedric Hansen played in the first period and then the second period, and Steven Kozikoski started the third period in both matchups.

Richer was the only goaltender to remain perfect in both games, stopping all 13 shots he faced, including nine against Carleton Place. Hansen and Kozikoski both allowed two goals each, Kozikowski allowing both in the game against Nazareth College.

While the obvious might point toward Richer getting the start against SUNY Cortland, as he did not allow any goals, there are also other things to consider, such as the amount of shots each goaltender saw. In his first-period start, Hansen only saw three shots against Carleton Place, while Richer saw four against the Golden Flyers.

Following both games, Gosek said the Lakers had the opposition playing on their heels in the first period, resulting in the lack of shots.

“[The goalies] all play different styles. But at the end of the day, if they keep pucks out of the net, we’re happy with it,” Allen said. “It’s tough for those guys to step into a game halfway through or at the start of the third period, when everyone else is already going.”

For the second straight season, Oswego State, who is ranked No. 6 in the preseason poll for USCHO, will host SUNY Cortland to open its regular season and for its first SUNYAC contest.

There is still one in question if they will be available for the game on Friday. Tanner Spink played against Carleton Place, but was out with an undisclosed injury against Nazareth College. Gosek said Spink practiced earlier in the week and hopefully the injury will “stay settled down.” 

After a lot of paperwork, Div. I transfer Carson Vance from Western Michigan University has also been cleared by the NCAA to play on Friday.  He missed both exhibition games.

Gosek said. “It’s been a paperwork nightmare, quite frankly. That’s all.”

Past SUNY Cortland, Oswego State also has four consecutive league matchups, with Plattsburgh State and SUNY Potsdam on Nov. 8 and 9, along with The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo on Nov. 15 and 16. 

More importantly, including the game against SUNY Cortland, the Lakers have four straight home games.

“We’ve only got two new guys. But for them, it’s great to get their toes wet right away,” Zizek said. “For [Alex] DiCarlo, he’s a young guy. It’s nice to have him get into those games, get a feel in front of the fans, because we’ve got a couple games coming up at home that are very important to us.”

Last season, the Lakers defeated SUNY Cortland 4-2. Broughman scored twice and chipped in an assist in the matchup, with Spink and Brown both adding goals. Allen registered two assists. Richer stopped 16 shots, allowing both goals.

Similar to the exhibition games, the Lakers committed five penalties resulting in four power-play opportunities for the Red Dragons. The final two penalties resulted in man-advantage goals for SUNY Cortland; turning a 4-0 game into a 4-2 game.

Gosek said the team wants to “get two points in all” of the league games, but they have “to earn it.” 

“Having a one-game weekend where we can just focus on one team, that’s a pretty good bonus being our first league game of the season,” Allen said. “Hopefully we’re all dialed in and ready to go come Friday. At the end of the day, it’s two points we’re after.”

Photo by Ben Grieco | The Oswegonian