“Nothing quite matches this,” senior Jody Sullivan said.

“If you’re lucky enough to be a part of it, it’s a great atmosphere,” senior Josh Zizek said.

“This game means a little more than the average two [league] points,” senior Anthony Passero said.

“I’ve heard it’s a once in a lifetime kind of thing,” junior Jeff Solow said.

The Oswego State men’s hockey team’s rivalry with Plattsburgh State brings many different feelings and reactions. From veterans, like Zizek and Sullivan, who will be playing in their third and fourth Whiteout games, respectively, to guys like Passero, who played against the Cardinals while at Buffalo State but also experienced a Whiteout with the Lakers.

There is an emotion, especially with the seniors, who will be playing in their last Whiteout game, compared to the newcomers who have excitement, such as Solow or Carson Vance, who will be playing in their first Whiteout game.

“It’s crazy emotional knowing that it’s the last one,” Zizek said. “It’s such a crazy crowd and atmosphere.”

Oswego State had not beaten Plattsburgh State in a Whiteout game since 2012, until last season, when the Lakers won 4-0. In 2012, assistant coach Jon Whitelaw was a senior on the team, and Oswego State eventually fell to St. Norbert College in the NCAA Div. III Championship.

Prior to last year’s seniors, Devin Campbell, Kristoffer Brun, Josh Nenadal and Cameron Berry, the last active player to win a Whiteout game was Justin Gilbert, who graduated in 2016. He was a freshman during that 2012 matchup.

Now, 16 players have a Whiteout win under their belts. Two players, Chris MacMillan and Joey Scorpio, have played in previous Whiteouts, but did not play in last season’s victory.

“[The win] was incredible. It was a great feeling,” Sullivan said. “I was just happy to be a part of it and get the win for the town and the school.”

But this rivalry is something special. Other schools do not have what Oswego State and Plattsburgh State have. Solow, who played at Div. I Merrimack College for a year and a half before transferring to the Lakers, said there was no rivalry like this. 

Vance mentioned, while at Div. I Western Michigan University, there was no consistent rival, but whenever big-name schools, like the University of Michigan or Michigan State came to town, “students would flock to those games and it’d be intense.”

“Michigan State, when we played them, it was kind of a Whiteout. [The students] had those [thunderstick] things,” Vance said. “The student section was from blue line to blue line. I’m expecting something like that.”

For Passero, who played at fellow SUNYAC school Buffalo State for two years before coming to Oswego State, when Plattsburgh State traveled to Buffalo, it was not that big of a deal. For the Bengals, it was merely a league game and there were two points on the line. The biggest rivalry Buffalo State had was with SUNY Fredonia, in a game called the “Battle of the Lake,” referring to Lake Erie.

While he was a freshman, Passero said when Plattsburgh State and SUNY Potsdam traveled to Buffalo State, the Bengals completed the “north country sweep,” and it was “something that Buffalo State just didn’t do at the time.” After he transferred to Oswego State, he mentioned that Whiteout was one of the first things he heard about.

“Eventually, you think it’s a little bit far-fetched. Then, once you play, you realize it’s everything everyone says and maybe a little bit more,” Passero said. “It sucks that I’m only going to get two of them, but at the end of the day, as long as they’re two good ones, that’s all that matters.”

With the help of social media, it is easy to see what Whiteout really looks like, instead of relying on word-of-mouth communication between veterans and newcomers. Passero said he is able to show friends at home what the game is all about, compared to “back in the day when [Whitelaw] was playing, when there were no cell phones,” Passero joked.

“I’ve seen some videos. It just seems like the crowd’s in it the whole game,” Vance said. “As a player, that’s something we always look forward to.”

Vance also said he is not trying to get caught up in the “hype” of Whiteout, with any potential “undue pressure,” as head coach Ed Gosek called it, worrying about playing well in front of friends and family. Since Vance has already played his first game with Oswego State, after playing on Nov. 1 against SUNY Cortland, he said it helps him going into this weekend.

“If this was my first game, I’d be a lot more jittery and anxious,” Vance said. “[I just have to] control what I can control. Every shift I’m going to help the team the best I can.”

Solow said he is expecting a game similar to last season’s SUNYAC championship at Geneseo, where it “was one of the most electric games that [he has] been a part of.”

“We’re both going to be playing a little more chippy,” Solow said. “People should expect to see more hitting and just a good game overall.”

Photos from The Oswegonian photo department