The Oswego State women’s hockey team loses its second game in a row, as the Lakers fall to Morrisville State by a score of 2-0. 

The first period was not a strong showing offensively for either team, as each side had a lot of trouble passing the puck. Passes were not crisp and kept going to skaters in opposing jerseys. This resulted in Oswego State only getting one shot on goal through the first half of the first period.

Defensively, both teams excelled early on, as neithern side generated dangerous chances. Later on in the period, the Lakers struggled, forcing Rachael Farmer to make several big stops to keep Oswego State in the game. Head coach Diane Dillon noticed this and thought Farmer just did what she does every game.

“Rachael was good all game long,” Dillon said. “With Rachael you know what you’re going to get. She’s a goaltender that is just a warrior out there and made good decisions with the puck.”

The closest opportunity for a goal in the first period came from senior forward Maddison Devlin, when she was in all alone on a breakaway. It looked like her shot was going in, as the puck got past Farmer, but it hit the post. 

As the first period progressed, the Lakers began to get things going offensively and finished the first period with ten shots on goal.

The second period was not much different from the beginning of the first. Within the first four minutes of the period, neither Oswego State or Morrisville State landed a single shot on goal. Morrisville State hemmed the Lakers in their own end for quite some time, resulting in a hooking penalty for Sara Cruise.

At the beginning of the Morrisville State power play, Oswego State got off to a strong start. However, at 7:35 in the second, Devlin was able to get the puck past Farmer on a slap shot.

As the period continued, senior captain Kate Randazzo was able to make impressive defensive plays all over the ice. Assistant coach Megan Ahern noted Randazzo’s consistency.

“The best part about her is that she really never has an off game,” Ahern said. “When she does have a game where she’s not really playing her A game, she finds her B game really quickly and still [acts as] a leader.”

The Lakers were unable to find the back of the net before the end of the second period, and at the beginning of the third period, it looked as though the team was beginning to turn things around.

Oswego State got multiple shots on goal and was doing a much better job of moving the puck. One skater that seemed to generate the most offensively was freshman Megan Teachout, who was getting shots on net at various areas on the ice. Ahern described it as Teachout just having fun.

“She’s definitely a very confident player,” Ahern said. “She has that edge that you can’t really teach to hockey players. We really appreciate that about her.”

This offensive surge from the Lakers did not slow down Morrisville State, as it was able to score late in the third period at 14:35 at four-on-four. This was thanks to Devlin again, after Alexziz Giannamore dished a nearly perfect pass to the right side of the net. 

After the second Mustangs goal, Oswego State could not get generate offensively in time to attempt to come back and win. Even though Dillon called this game a tough and frustrating loss, she was able to take away some positives for her team.

“I thought we got better as the game went on,” Dillon said. “We created a lot of chances and had opportunities to put a couple of goals in. We’d like to be a little better at executing, but they battled hard and never quit.”

The Lakers next game will be tomorrow afternoon at home against SUNY Potsdam, who they tied a week ago. Puck is scheduled to drop at 3:00 pm in the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.

Photo By Casey Stone | The Oswegonian