Alex DiCarlo extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, but it was not enough to put the Lakers in the win column as the Oswego State men’s hockey team tied The College at Brockport 2-2 Saturday night in Brockport.

His goal went on the inside of The College at Brockport’s Matt Schneider, past his right arm after taking the shot from the right face-off dot in the Golden Eagles’ defensive zone.

Both of the Golden Eagles’ goals were from defensive turnovers or mistakes. The first goal, scored by Ethan Solat in the first period, was on a breakaway after the defense put it right on his stick. Steven Kozikoski could not close the five-hold up quick enough to stop the shot.

The second goal came after an errant pass went right into the slot for Robert Flannery to pick up, getting a shot over the shoulder of Kozikoski to tie the game at two with 59.8 seconds left in the second period.

Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek said that the “defense, as a group, struggled,” in the loss.

“I don’t want to say it’s individual mistakes, but guys have got to get better. It ends up costing us,” Gosek said. “They were ultimately the ones that turned pucks over, but the bottom line is that we had other opportunities throughout the game could have made up for it.”

Travis Broughman also scored for the Lakers off a rebound at 3:52 of the second period, originally giving Oswego State a 2-1 lead. Michael Gillespie had an assist on both of the goals, while Broughman also added a helper on the DiCarlo goal.

Broughman also took a heavy shot from Max Novick right into the knee, sending him off for a small portion of the first period. He and DiCarlo led the team in shots, as well, with Broughman throwing seven shots on net, while the freshman had nine.

A lot of DiCarlo’s and Broughman’s opportunities came on the team’s third power play, after Anthony Hora was called for hooking at 14:47 of the third period.

Gosek added that Broughman’s goal came with a “heavy heart” due to some personal off-ice reasons.

“How many good looks did [DiCarlo] have? [Brockport’s] goalie made some big saves on him,” Gosek said. “Broughman was there. He gutted it out for us. I’m happy to see him get back on the scoreboard.”

Kozikoski made 22 saves in net for his fourth straight start. He now has a .931 save percentage and 1.71 goals against average following the tie. Gosek said that “if [Kozikoski] makes the save in the slot area, that’s a game changer,” but the team cannot expect or rely on him to make those saves.

Gosek also added that the sophomore goaltender just needs some better communication on the icings, making sure he stays in his crease especially when the linesman waives off the icing.

“He tracked the puck well. I thought he made some good saves,” Gosek said.

Following Oswego State’s (11-8-1, 8-2-1 SUNYAC) first tie of the season, the Lakers host SUNY Geneseo (16-3-2, 9-1-2 SUNYAC) on Sunday to make up the postponed game from Friday due to inclement weather. The Knights defeated SUNY Cortland at home Friday night 7-1, behind three-point games from Andrew Romano and Conlan Keenan.

Back in November, the Knights defeated the Lakers 9-1 following a penalty-filled contest at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena.

Sunday’s matchup will also be a crucial matchup to determine the first seed for the SUNYAC playoffs. SUNY Geneseo now holds a three-point lead over Oswego State, after the Lakers received only one point in the tie against the Golden Eagles. However, Oswego State does have a game in-hand over the Knights.

“We’ll hope to get some rest, get a morning skate and video in and be ready to go tomorrow night,” Gosek said. “It’ll be a heck of a challenge for us.”

Photo by Ben Grieco | The Oswegonian