There were only 10 stops in the action during the first period between the Oswego State men’s hockey team and Buffalo State Friday night.

Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek got his team into the locker room during the first intermission, and by the time he finished his speech it was still before 7:30 p.m.

Even then, there were only 14 stoppages during the second period.

Through 40 minutes of play, no penalties had been called and the Lakers led 1-0 thanks to Jody Sullivan with 7:20 remaining in the opening period.

“That was the least amount of faceoffs in a period that I can remember. It was a quick period,” Gosek said. “Our shift time was pretty good. Most of the guys were under 40 seconds. It was a good pace.”

Oswego State scored three unanswered goals, with Sullivan scoring followed by Travis Broughman with 18:48 remaining in the third period and Alex DiCarlo, who scored the insurance goal, at 14:53 of the regulation period.

The freshman now has 11 points in his last eight games, despite being held pointless in both shutout victories over Morrisville State last weekend.

“DiCarlo created a lot of turnovers tonight,” Gosek said. “He’s usually getting the puck after the turnovers. You like to see that.”

Steven Kozikoski was perfect through 40 minutes, but two defensive breakdowns led to two Buffalo State goals within four minutes of each other during the third period.

Charles Barber was able to sneak in past the Lakers’ defense and get a poke through Kozikoski’s five-hole, while Matt Minerva scored after a cross-ice pass from Nikita Kozyrev. His one-timer shot was too fast for Kozikoski to catch.

“We made it closer than it needed to be. It’s no discredit to Buffalo. But there were two breakdowns that weren’t necessary,” Gosek said. “Steven tracked the puck well. He made the saves that he had to.”

With another two league points secured by Oswego State (14-9-1, 11-3-1 SUNYAC), the Lakers will host Senior Night tomorrow against SUNY Fredonia, who is attempting to claw its way into the playoffs.

All 13 seniors will be recognized after the game. Gosek said that this senior class is “a special group of guys,” that have shown commitment over their careers with Oswego State—whether that be four, three or two years.

“We know we’re home next Saturday [for the semifinals], so it’s not like it’s their last home game ever,” Gosek said. “It’s still special because they’ve got their families here. … Hopefully we can make it a special one and have a good memory at the end of it.”

Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian