The season is winding down for the Oswego State women’s hockey team, as it only has three conference games remaining. As of right now, the team is in a four-way race for second place in the Northeast Women’s Hockey League with SUNY Cortland, Morrisville State and SUNY Potsdam.
Last season, the Lakers saw themselves in second place for a majority of the season. However, in the months of January and February, the team did not have a strong finish to the year. In those final two months of the season, Oswego State had a record of 4-9-2 and fell to fourth place. Head coach Diane Dillon knows how important these final games of the season are with the standings so close.
“Every game is important,” Dillon said. “When you play only 25 games, every point is crucial. Each game we approach it with the same kind of mentality, that we want to win these games, especially on our own ice.”
The Lakers last faced a NEWHL team on Wednesday night against Morrisville State, a team the Lakers are battling with for the second seed. Oswego State won the game 4-2 in impressive fashion, dominating the third period. This is a very positive sign for the team, as it is in a situation where the Lakers control their own destiny. Associate head coach Mark Digby does not want the team to focus on the standings, but to just focus on playing Laker hockey and keep improving as a team.
“First through fourth place, we don’t care,” Digby said. “Just get in. That happens based on how we perform. For us to make a good push at the end of the season, both power play and penalty kill have to be better.”
One team that the Lakers would like to avoid in the playoffs is Plattsburgh State. The Lakers’ rival Plattsburgh State has already clinched first place in the NEWHL, after dominating its competition this season. The Cardinals have never lost a NEWHL game in the three years of its existence. Not only do the Cardinals dominate every opponent they face, but they also have not lost a game to Oswego State since 2016. This year alone, the Cardinals have defeated the Lakers by a combined score of 13-2.
Dillon knows the benefits of playing games in the Marano Campus Center, on their home ice. That route is the ideal situation on top of avoiding Plattsburgh State in the first round of the playoffs.
“We don’t want to have to face them, [Plattsburgh], in the first round,” Dillon said. “It would be nice to finish strong, but the focus is the same, no matter who the opponent is. There’s no guarantee in making the playoffs. I have always loved playing at home, as a team we have gotten stronger and stronger at home.”
Alternate captain Philomena Teggart agreed with Dillon on the importance of playing at home, and how the team can use that to its advantage in the playoffs.
“It’s really important to have home ice, because we get to have our own routine here,” Teggart said. “I know a couple of us like to ride the bike before home games, we know everything here and we get to eat meals together. It’s just better than sitting on a bus for hours and gives us more time to relax.”
The majority of the upperclassmen on this team are returning players from last season and hope to avoid what happened at the end of last season. Senior captain Kate Randazzo said this is a goal for the team, to finish this season strong.
“We’re noticing how close everyone is [in the standings], and we’re just focused on what we have to do to keep ourselves on top,” Randazzo said. “We talked about at the beginning of this semester, about the importance of finishing strong, so I think everyone is looking to do better this semester.”
Teggart understands the importance of this last stretch of games. Despite this, the team has not changed its attitude.
“We have the same mindset going into every game and trying to focus on our goals,” Teggart said. “Coming down to the stretch here, we are fighting for a playoff spot with three other teams for second place, so we are a lot more focused.”
Oswego State, as of now, has five games remaining on its schedule. Three out of those five games will be against NEWHL opponents, Buffalo State twice and SUNY Canton, who are both at the bottom of the NEWHL standings. If the Lakers can take care of business against their remaining two NEWHL opponents, then that will guarantee them second place in the NEWHL. That home ice advantage could be huge.
Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
