Behind a six-goal third period, including two from Travis Broughman, the No. 5 Oswego State men’s hockey team defeated SUNY Potsdam 8-1 Saturday night at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.

Twelve different players from the Lakers recorded at least one point. Broughman tacked on two assists for a four-point night, while Anthony Passero and Joseph Molinaro had three- and two-point nights, respectively. Both of Broughman’s goals came exactly 40 seconds apart in the regulation period.

“There’s no go-to guy. A lot of guys played well,” Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek said. “There’s not much more to say other than I’m pleased with the way a lot of guys played tonight. It’s a step in the right direction.”

Broughman’s goals were the first and second of his season. Jeff Solow, Tanner Spink, Carson Vance and Molinaro’s goals were all the first of their seasons. Vance’s goal, which came from the blue line over the shoulder of SUNY Potsdam’s Michael Paglucca, was his first collegiate goal, after not scoring at all during his two seasons at Div. I Western Michigan University.

Gosek said Vance, despite scoring the goal, played a lot better defensively, helping the Lakers to only allow one goal.

“The offensive opportunities just didn’t present themselves like they have before for Vance,” Gosek said. “I thought he was solid tonight.”

In his first official game of the season, Cedric Hansen stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced for a .952 save percentage. The only goal he allowed was on the power play in the second period, after some chaos near the net. Robert Clerc, who was part of Oswego State his freshman year, scored for the Bears.

Notably, David Richer did not dress in the game and is day-to-day, according to Gosek. He mentioned that the athletic training staff saw it best to rest him to recover quickly.

“I was very pleased with Cedric. He played extremely well. He made some big saves tonight,” Gosek said. “Doctors felt it was in [Richer’s] best interest [to rest].”

Oswego State’s special teams saw a lot of action, with the Lakers committing nine penalties, eight of which put them short-handed. The penalty killing units killed seven of the eight SUNY Potsdam power plays. Oswego State also went 0-3 on the man-advantage and has yet to score a power play goal this season.

Michael Gillespie did have a 10-minute unsportsmanlike conduct at 10:26 of the third period, along with a two-minute minor for hitting from behind. Gosek said the team’s discipline needs to improve.

“I liked the way our PK pressured. I thought we were aggressive … The power play is a work-in-progress,” Gosek said. “We addressed it after the game. There were some guys at the end that took [bad penalties]. There was no reason to, especially in a game where you’re in control.”

With the win over SUNY Potsdam, the Lakers have swept the north country trip between Plattsburgh State and the Bears. It is the second straight year the sweep at home has been accomplished by Oswego State.

Outside of exhibition games, the last time the Lakers scored at least eight goals was on Jan. 13, 2017, against Nazareth College in an 8-0 shutout. No current players registered a point in that matchup, despite being just two years ago.

Also with the sweep, Oswego State now improves to 3-0-0 (3-0-0 SUNYAC) on the season, while SUNY Potsdam falls to 0-3-1 (0-3-1 SUNYAC) and is still searching for its first win of the season. The Lakers are tied for first in the SUNYAC with six points, along with The College at Brockport and Morrisville State.

Oswego State now faces the Golden Eagles on Friday. The College at Brockport fell to Morrisville State Saturday night 4-1, and now holds a record of 3-1-0 (3-1-0 SUNYAC).

“We finally had our first two-game weekend, so we got guys back into the swing of that. Our energy level was good,” Gosek said. “We need a good week of practice and get ourselves ready for Friday.”

Photo by William Rogers | The Oswegonian