With tension ongoing for years, the Oswego State men’s hockey team is looking to take home its second Whiteout victory against its rival, Plattsburgh State.
The Lakers defeated Plattsburgh State 4-0 last season. Being their first Whiteout win in six years, the Lakers are aware of what changes they installed as a team to be able to pull off that strong of a win.
“I think we played more as a team, everyone just buying into their role and doing what they need to do to make others succeed and make the overall team succeed,” senior forward Jody Sullivan said.
With adrenaline and emotions running high, the Lakers know that they must keep their poise going into the heavily hyped game. Despite previous years being very close battles, the 2018-19 season was the first season in which the Lakers were able to pull off a victory in their classic Whiteout game against Plattsburgh State.
“You just have to look at the bigger picture,” captain Josh Zizek said. “We just want to win no matter who were playing. No matter if its Plattsburgh or anyone else.”
Regardless of the extra hype surrounding the game, the Lakers are managing emotions early on and looking to transition their style of play that helped generate last seasons’ Whiteout win, in order to defeat the Cardinals again.
“I think the habits you have against good teams are those I would hope to carry over from last year, how you manage the distractions is the key for our guys to maintain focus on the game,” head coach Ed Gosek said. “We played strong defensively in that game, we controlled our emotions and the pace of the game.”
Despite Oswego State’s strong defense, goaltender David Richer made 21 key saves. Giving up four of those shots short-handed, the Lakers are looking to stay out of the box in their upcoming contest.
“We have to focus on staying out of the box, keeping our discipline and staying away from whatever they are trying to get us into,” Zizek said.
Scoring four of their 28 shots, the Lakers were very consistent with the puck on the offensive end. The team plans on transitioning that style of play into the upcoming contest.
“Our puck management was good and would limit the amount of unforced turnovers,” Gosek said. “They have to be savvy with the puck in the offensive end, get intelligent pucks to the net where we have a chance to get rebounds, last year we were good in those scenarios.”
A game waited for all season has come early this year. The guys have fresh legs and have been practicing to ensure that they are ready to go.
“More goes into this game and we want to be ready any way that we can,” Sullivan said.
Focusing on the contest itself, rather than the Whiteout classic, the Lakers know what circumstances they are under in regards to this game. Plattsburgh State is a top competitor, making the stakes even higher.
“At the end of the day, it is us who is either going to win or lose the game,” Zizek said. “I think with this team, we have a really good chance of winning but if we are not ready or prepared to play they can also come up on top.”
Although Plattsburgh State did lose to the Lakers last year, it did have chances. Having a total of 6:49 power play time, the Cardinals just could not put the puck in the back of the Oswego State net.
“They had opportunities last year, but our special teams were key and last year we were good in those scenarios,” Gosek said.
Out-shooting the Cardinals in the past four Whiteout matchups, Oswego State is planning on doing what it did last year, establishing a net front presence and creating chances for itself in the crease.
“You can’t start to breakup by throwing pucks to the net hoping you’re going to get a rebound and hoping you are going to get lucky,” Gosek said.
The Lakers are focused going into the matchup against Plattsburgh State. Looking to accomplish what they did last season, the emotions remain high but are balanced throughout the Laker locker room with the shared thought of winning.
“If you’re not on your A-game anybody can upset anybody at any given time,” Zizek said.
The Oswegonian file photo from 2018
