After not winning a single Whiteout game against Plattsburgh State in six years, the No. 5 Oswego State men’s hockey team has now won back-to-back Whiteouts after a 3-0 victory on Friday night.

And for the second straight season, Anthony Passero was the player to start it off for the Lakers, with the opening goal at 9:02 of the first period. Last season, he scored at 5:47 of the second period to begin Oswego State’s 4-0 shutout win.

Unlike last year’s Whiteout where it was four forwards that contributed to the Lakers’ win, this season saw two defensemen, Tyler Currie and Carter Allen, both notch their first goals of the season en route to the 3-0 win.

Jeff Solow, also a blue-liner, added an assist on the Currie goal at 12:29 of the second period.

“We’re getting contributions from our back end, which is a huge plus,” Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek said. “It just develops confidence with our ability to use our defense at the offensive blue line. It’s another dimension that we haven’t had in awhile.”

While the defense was strong in the offensive zone, it was also stronger in the defensive zone, something it lacked in Oswego State’s 6-3 win over SUNY Cortland on Nov. 1.

With the added assistance, David Richer stopped all 25 shots he faced. The defense also blocked 12 shots as a whole and was able to get a stick on a lot of shots, as well.

Richer earned his sixth collegiate shutout after the victory. He did have an injury-scare toward the end of the third period, but did not appear to be serious, staying in the game. It looked like his left leg was bothering him.

Gosek mentioned that Richer tracked the puck well and “seemed to be on” during the game.

“We grabbed pucks and got control,” Gosek said. “I’m not sure if it was a shot or cramping up or a pulled muscle.”

This win meant a lot more than the two league points the Lakers earned, beating “their biggest rival,” according to Gosek.

“It’s a big weekend on campus,” Gosek said. “It’s college hockey. I was proud of our guys. It was a solid effort. We’ll take it.”

Oswego State (2-0-0, 2-0-0 SUNYAC), who sits at No. 5 in the USCHO rankings, will host SUNY Potsdam (0-2-1, 0-2-1 SUNYAC) Saturday. In similar fashion to Friday’s matchup, the Lakers’ opponent will be looking for its first win of the season. The Bears fell to SUNY Cortland 4-2 on Friday night.

Plattsburgh State (0-3-0, 0-3-0 SUNYAC) will travel to the Red Dragons for its fourth game of the season on Saturday.

“It’s our first two-game weekend, so how will we manage that [is the question],” Gosek said. “They did a lot of good things … It was a good hockey game and we were happy to get the two points.

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Cover photo by William Rogers | The Oswegonian