Since the last time Oswego State faced SUNY Geneseo, the two teams have been polar opposites of one another. The Knights have continued their tear through the Div. III ranks, boasting a 15-3-2 record, while Oswego State fell out of the national rankings for the first time since Oct. 24, 2016. 

SUNY Geneseo’s high-powered offense continues to lead the nation, scoring 101 goals. The interesting dynamic for the Knights is the different ways that they score. Their defense has combined for 19 goals, including 12 on the power play. For reference, Oswego State has 13 goals from its backend, none of which came on the man-advantage.

Aside from the defensive scoring, SUNY Geneseo has blazing speed that is hard to match. While Oswego State is also a quick team, the Knights seem to have an extra gear that few teams have. This speed helps the Knights generate offense in the blink of an eye, especially in transition. A couple plays that stand out come from the first time Oswego State faced the Knights this season. SUNY Geneseo was on the power play and David Szmyd used his quick speed to receive the puck 

Since the last time Oswego State faced SUNY Geneseo, the two teams have been polar opposites of one another. The Knights have continued their tear through the Div. III ranks, boasting a 15-3-2 record, while Oswego State fell out of the national rankings for the first time since Oct. 24, 2016. 

SUNY Geneseo’s high-powered offense continues to lead the nation, scoring 101 goals. The interesting dynamic for the Knights is the different ways that they score. Their defense has combined for 19 goals, including 12 on the power play. For reference, Oswego State has 13 goals from its backend, none of which came on the man-advantage.

Aside from the defensive scoring, SUNY Geneseo has blazing speed that is hard to match. While Oswego State is also a quick team, the Knights seem to have an extra gear that few teams have. This speed helps the Knights generate offense in the blink of an eye, especially in transition. A couple plays that stand out come from the first time Oswego State faced the Knights this season. SUNY Geneseo was on the power play and David Szmyd used his quick speed to receive the puck in the netural zone and within seven or eight strides, he blew past two Oswego State penalty killers. Smyzd had himself a chance in all alone against Cedric Hansen and slid the puck around him on the backhand.

“We have to work extremely hard to stay on top of their guys, so that we have tight gap [control],” Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek said. “Try to keep their speed outside and take away their strengths, which is getting up and down the ice … by [us] having good positioning, which is going to take extreme effort on our part.”

Part of that good positioning is based on not cheating. For the forwards, Oswego State cannot creep out into the neutral zone before the defense clears the zone. When SUNY Geneseo causes turnovers in its offensive zone, it does a great job creating offense in a hurry. The Knights create space so well and make crisp passes that make it hard for the goaltender to get set and make saves. 

While the Lakers cannot take unnecessary chances in their own end, SUNY Geneseo will give them opportunities to counter. The Knights’ defense is not afraid to jump in on the rush, resulting in potential rushes back the other way. Last game, the Lakers got chances against SUNY Geneseo’s goaltender, Andrew McKay, because of the defense, but could not capitalize.

“I don’t want to say they are high risk, high reward. But they’ll take chances,” Gosek said. “Their defense will jump in on the rush. They’ll get four guys low in your zone and you are going to get opportunities … when you are given opportunities. You have to capitalize. You have to be opportunistic.”

What makes it so difficult to generate a counter attack is how quick the SUNY Geneseo skaters are. If one of the four guys in deep manage to lose the puck, they are able to establish a forecheck quickly, resulting in puck retrieval. For Oswego State, using its size will be an important asset. SUNY Geneseo does not have the size or physicality that the Lakers do. 

“Do I think they are a physical team that’s going to push you around or win all the wall battles like some of the western schools of the past?” Gosek said. “I don’t think they play that way. I don’t think they have to play that way.”

On top of that, Oswego State should look to establish its heavy forecheck and cycle, as a way to wear down the SUNY Geneseo skaters and hem them in their own zone. Size and physicality is the best way to mitigate speed. It forces the Knights to the outside and out of high-danger areas.

While SUNY Geneseo may not have the size advantage, it has a special teams advantage over most teams it faces. The Knights have the third-best power play percentage in the nation at clip of 31.5%. Unlike Oswego State’s umbrella system, where there is one defender at the blueline, the Knights run a 2-3, where two defenders are at the blue line and three forwards are in deep, closer to the crease. While talent plays a big role in scoring, Gosek attributes SUNY Geneseo’s success to its coaching staff and patience.

“[The] difference is that they have guys that have patience, that have confidence in one another, and again, they don’t force things.” Gosek said. “We’ve faced a 2-3 [against] lots of teams, but none of them look like Geneseo … so, they’ve got the talent [and] the system fits the talent.”

The  SUNY Geneseo power play may run through Tyson Empey, who leads the team with seven power-play goals, but its defense has been phenomenal. The two at the blue line will pass the puck back and forth, looking for passes to the circle. Rather than fancy cross-ice passes, they pass along their side of the ice, resulting in safer plays. Quickly moving the puck to the forwards at the faceoff circles helps move the penalty killers out of position. At that point, the power play’s success is in the hands of the forwards, who have several reads to make: shoot, a pass to the back door or a pass back to the point. With the forwards SUNY Geneseo has, keeping a 2-3 system just makes sense.

“When you have [Conlan] Keenan, [Andrew] Romano and Empey really comfortable in that situation, they know what the reads are, they know what plays they have to make,” Knight’s head coach Chris Schultz said. “They just know the power play to a tee.”

The Knights’ penalty kill is not as good as its power play but still ranks 20th in the nation at a rate of 85.9%. The penalty kill has a unique style, as it can jump out and be aggressive, but at times will sit back below the circles. Both of these styles will make it difficult for opposing power plays, as the speed of SUNY Geneseo makes it hard to slow things down and look deliberately for proper passes. On the other hand, when they sit back in the slot, it makes it impossible for cross-ice passes to connect, a primary way Oswego State generates offense.

While both teams have been on different trajectories since the last time they played, both are entering the game fighting for first place in the SUNYAC, demonstrating how critical this contest is for both sides.

Graphic by Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian