Entering the third period, the Oswego State men’s hockey team had 35 shots on net compared to SUNY Fredonia’s 10. But the scoreboard at the Marano Campus Center showed a tie game, with the Lakers and Blue Devils knotted at one.
For the first 1:43 of the period, the Lakers were on the power play after the Jacob Haynes roughing minor, but the man-advantage was not successful.
Just two seconds after the power play ended, senior Anthony Passero took a slap-shot from the blue line. Ringing off the post, the puck got past Anton Rosén to give Oswego State a 2-1 lead.
As Passero looked up to celebrate, facing the south side of the rink, he saw five or six friends and family members wearing green and gold Fort Erie Meteors T-shirts—the junior hockey team his father owned since 1983, before his passing in 2019, and Passero played for, whose original colors are orange, black and white—with “Passero 4” on the back of them, cheering as loud as the rest of the 2,000 other fans in the arena.
“It’s something my dad started. Even though he’s not here anymore, they just carried it on,” Passero said. “It was exciting, and I’m excited to spend the night with [my family] for sure.”
Less than 15 minutes later fellow senior Josh Zizek got a cross-ice pass from Travis Broughman. Zizek put the one-timer home to give the Lakers a 3-1 lead. He also scored the empty-net goal with 8.1 seconds left in the game.
The St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada, native had his parents, brother and grandparents at the game to celebrate Senior Night. With the commitment to the Oswego State hockey team, Zizek mentioned he does not get to see his grandparents often.
“To score for them, it was such a great experience,” Zizek said. “To see them on the ice taking pictures and meeting the guys, they loved it, I loved it. It was just awesome to see that.”
But perhaps best of all, Zizek and Passero—childhood friends, who spent some years apart between junior hockey and their first two years of college hockey—got to spend their Senior Night together and celebrate a 4-1 win over SUNY Fredonia to end the regular season.
“Anthony’s a great guy. I love him to death,” Zizek said. “It’s nice to see him get that goal and a little bit of success, because it’s been a tough year for him.”
“I wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for Josh,” Passero said. “He’s an unbelievable guy. He’s going to bring us home down the stretch and I’m excited to be a part of it with him.”
A day that those two players, as well as the other 11 seniors on the roster, dreamed of when they were freshmen finally happened: their Senior Night, and what better way to go out with a win?
Zizek said that everyone was working hard and “it was frustrating” at the beginning of the game, but “now it’s all smiles in the locker room.”
“I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s an all-time high,” Zizek said. “We’re going into playoffs on a high note and I could not be more happy.”
The seniors were able end their last regular season on a four-game win streak, sweeping the last two weekends, after an up-and-down season.
“It’s their last regular-season game and they’ve got their families here. I’m proud of all of them,” Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek said. “We have a large group of seniors that have battled through this season.”
It was a slow start to begin the game. Carter Allen opened scoring at 9:07 of the first period with assists from Joseph Molinaro and Jody Sullivan after the cross-ice pass from Molinaro.
Chandler Judd got a rebound goal that could not be handled by David Richer at 2:21 of the second period. The Blue Devils were able to tie the game and hold onto that tie for the remainder of the second.
It took 28 shots and more than 20 minutes for Oswego State to eventually find the back of the net again, with Passero scoring at 1:45 on the slap shot.
“We slowly took over and gained momentum. I liked the way we played,” Gosek said. “I give out guys credit for sticking with it and eventually being able to open things up with that big goal in the third period.”
After some killed penalties and miss opportunities on the power-play as well as some odd-man rushes, Zizek got a one-timer past Rosén at 17:12.
The empty-net goal with 8.1 seconds left in the period gave Zizek his second goal of the night and put the game out of reach for SUNY Fredonia.
With two assists each for Jody Sullivan and Tyler Currie, as well as an assist for Joseph Molinaro, the senior class finished with eight points as a whole on the night. David Richer, in his first start at the Marano Campus Center since Jan. 4 against the University of New England, made 14 saves on 15 shots.
Even though it was not in doubt heading into the game, Oswego State is headed to the SUNYAC Championships this weekend. The Lakers got the bye-round avoiding the first round of the tournament, and will wait until Saturday for the semifinals at the Marano Campus Center.
Their opponent will be determined on Wednesday night between the two games that are happening in the first round.
“We want to keep practices intense and keep working on the right things,” Gosek said. “We’ll continue to get better until next Saturday night.”
For the seniors, they want to extend their collegiate careers as much as possible. In a win-or-go-home situation starting on Saturday, every shot and period counts. Passero said the team has a lot to look forward to and they are “going to prove some people wrong.”
“It’s not over yet. We’ll have a little fun tonight but then it’s all business,” Zizek said. “We’ve still got our jobs to do and games to win.”
Photo by William Rogers | The Oswegonian
