It comes down to one game for the Oswego State men’s hockey team, as it looks to extend its season into the NCAA Championships. Unlike last season, the Lakers cannot bank on being selected for an at-large bid with the PairWise rankings; only a SUNYAC crown and the league’s automatic bid will allow Oswego State to enter national tournament.

Defeating SUNY Geneseo will be no small task, having won the last two SUNYAC Championships, both at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena.

There is a lot on the line for both teams. Oswego State’s season could end tonight. It should all make for an exciting game, as expected, in the championship game.

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Season History

These two teams have already faced twice this season. Once at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena, and then at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.

The game at Geneseo on Nov. 16 resulted in a devastating 9-1 loss for the Lakers. There were seven power-play goals for the Knights. Oswego State committed three game misconducts as well as a match misconduct, forcing Joseph Molinaro to miss the Lakers’ next game. Overall, more than 80 penalty minutes were committed. That loss sent Oswego State’s season for a turn. (Author’s note: there was no post-game story from that loss since there was a feature being written about a typical road trip for the men’s hockey team; this can be read here.)

Only Mitch Emerson scored in that game at 18:41 of the third period, at a time where it was way too late to even think about coming back. David Richer allowed seven goals 31 shots, before being replaced by Cedric Hansen who allowed two goals on four shots.

While at the Marano Campus Center, SUNY Geneseo came out on top 5-3 on Feb. 9. The Lakers came back to the tie the game 3-3 at 13:09 of the third period, before Cam Russell spoiled the comeback at 18:31 to make the game 4-3. Conlan Keenan got the empty-net goal at 19:22 of the regulation period. Carson Vance, Max Novick and Michael Gillespie all scored for Oswego State. Steven Kozikoski made 26 saves on 30 shots.

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Last Time Out

Oswego State

To get to the championship game, Oswego State defeated Plattsburgh State 4-1 on Tuesday in the semifinals. The win over the Cardinals signified the first time the Lakers have swept a three-game season series against Plattsburgh State for the first time since the 2009-2010 season.

Travis Broughman scored the first two goals for Oswego State. The first at 1:33 of the opening period and then at 5:17 on the power play in the second period. Joey Scorpio and Josh Zizek rounded out the scoring. Michael Gillespie added three assists. Zizek also had two assists, while Derek Brown and Carson Vance both chipped in an assist each. Steven Kozikoski made 21 saves on 22 shots, only allowing the goal while heavily screened in the third period on the penalty kill.

Oswego State’s power play went 1-4 during the game, while it killed three of its four penalties.

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SUNY Geneseo

The Knights were able to play their semifinal game during the regularly-scheduled Saturday matchup. SUNY Geneseo steamrolled SUNY Potsdam 7-0 to advance to the championship game. Conlan Keenan and Andrew Romano both had four points each. Keenan had two goals and two assists. Romano had one goal and three assists. Five other players recorded two-point nights. Brendan Miller and Devin Brink both scored for the Knights, while adding an assist each. Don Bosio and Gordan Helmuth rounded out the scoring for SUNY Geneseo.

Aaron MacKay stopped all 30 shots that he faced for just his second shutout of the season.

SUNY Geneseo went 3-4 on the power play, and killed all three penalty kills that it was faced with.

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By the Numbers

RECORD (conference) [vs. each other this season]

OSW: 16-9-1 (12-3-1 SUNYAC) [0-2-0]

GEN: 21-3-2 (13-1-2 SUNYAC) [2-0-0]

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GOALS (per game) [vs. each other this season]

OSW: 102 (3.9) [4 / 2.0]

GEN: 134 (5.15) [14 / 7.0]

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SHOTS (per game) [vs. each other this season]

OSW: 939 (36.1) [57 / 28.5]

GEN: 1,059 (40.7) [66 / 33.0]

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POWER PLAY (percentage) [vs. each other this season]

OSW: 23-100 (23.0%) [2-13 / 15.4%]

GEN: 48-145 (33.1%) [8-16 / 50.0%]

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PENALTY KILL (percentage) [vs. each other this season]

OSW: 81-102 (79.4%) [8-16 / 50.0%]

GEN: 87-100 (87.0%) [11-13 / 84.6%]

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Statistic Leaders

Oswego State

GOALS (conference)

1. Travis Broughman — 15 (7)
2. Josh Zizek — 12 (7)
3. Alex DiCarlo — 9 (6)

ASSISTS (conference)

1. Anthony Passero — 20 (14)
2. Michael Gillespie / Max Novick — 18 (9 / 11)
3. Josh Zizek — 13 (8)

POINTS (conference)

1. Anthony Passero / Travis Broughman — 27 (18 / 15)
2. Josh Zizek — 25 (15)
3. Michael Gillespie / Max Novick — 24 (12 / 16)

SHOTS (shooting percentage) [conference]

1. Travis Broughman — 128 (11.7%) [75 / 9.3%]
2. Carson Vance — 78 (5.1%) [51 / 5.9%]
3. Max Novick — 74 (8.1%) [48 / 10.4%]

PLUS-MINUS (conference)

1. Carter Allen — +23 (+18)
2. Max Novick — +22 (+16)
3. Josh Zizek — +16 (+9)

SAVE PERCENTAGE (total saves) [conference]

1. Steven Kozikoski — .930 (186 saves) [.930 / 146 saves]
2. David Richer — .911 (338 saves) [.912 / 197 saves]
3. Cedric Hansen — .819 (59 saves) [.880 / 22 saves]

GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE (goals allowed) [conference]

1. Steven Kozikoski — 1.72 (14 goals allowed) [1.81 / 11 goals allowed]
2. David Richer — 2.20 (33 goals allowed) [2.14 / 19 goals allowed]
3. Cedric Hansen — 4.41 (13 goals allowed) [2.51 / 3 goals allowed]

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SUNY Geneseo

GOALS (conference)

1. Conlan Keenan — 22 (13)
2. Tyson Empey — 17 (9)
3. Andrew Romano — 14 (7)

ASSISTS (conference)

1. Andrew Romano — 41 (23)
2. Conlan Keenan — 28 (19)
3. Chris Perna — 20 (12)

POINTS (conference)

1. Andrew Romano — 55 (30)
2. Conlan Keenan — 50 (32)
3. Tyson Empey — 29 (16)

SHOTS (shooting percentage) [conference]

Not listed on collegehockeystats.net

PLUS-MINS (conference)

Not listed on collegehockeystats.net

SAVE PERCENTAGE (total saves) [conference]

1. Christian Roth — 1.000 (2 saves) [N/A]
2. Aaron MacKay — .916 (329 saves) [.918 / 214 saves]
3. Matt Petizian — .906 (183 saves) [.911 / 102 saves]

GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE (goals allowed) [conference]

1. Christian Roth — 0.00 (0 goals allowed) [N/A]
2. Matt Petizian — 1.77 (19 goals allowed) [1.65 / 10 goals allowed]
3. Aaron MacKay — 1.97 (30 goals allowed) [1.88 / 19 goals allowed]

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Starting Lines

Oswego State

Forwards

Mitch Emerson — Anthony Passero — Alex DiCarlo

Michael Gillespie — Josh Zizek — Travis Broughman

Jody Sullivan — Mac Lewis — Joseph Molinaro

Tanner Spink — Tyson Kirkby — Joey Scorpio

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Defense

Max Novick — Tyler Antonucci

Carter Allen — Carson Vance

Chris MacMillan — Tyler Currie

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Extra Skater

Derek Brown

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Goaltenders

Steven Kozikoski (starter)

David Richer

Cedric Hansen

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Scratches: Charlie Pelnik, Jeff Solow, Ryan Bunka, Josh LeBlanc

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SUNY Geneseo

Forwards

Brendan Miller — Conlan Keenan — Andrew Romano

Dan Bosio — Carson Kelley — Devin Brink

Levi Wunder — Henry Cleghorn — Gordon Helmuth

Tyson Empey — Tyson Gilmour — David Szmyd

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Defense

Cam Russell — Tanner Salsberry

Chris Perna — Matthew Doran

Alex Wilkins — Kyle Hartman

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Extra Skater

Teddy McCabe

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Goaltenders

Aaron MacKay (starter)

Matt Petizian

Christian Roth

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Scratches: Nicholas Elia, Ryan Burnett, Bryan Zurowski, Andrew Hart

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Players to Watch

Oswego State: Travis Broughman

After a two-goal performance in the semifinals, it is pretty clear that Travis Broughman—even though he is only a sophomore—does not want this season to end. Obviously, the 13 seniors do not, either. A lot of this will come down to how the top scorers play. Broughman is one of them. Expect the sophomore to have a big game as he tries to upset SUNY Geneseo.

SUNY Geneseo: Conlan Keenan

He is on the first line and is averaging a little less than two points per game. Conlan Keenan had four points in the semifinals, and does not appear to be stopping anytime soon. Even though the outcome does not decide if his collegiate career is over or not, he will likely want one more SUNYAC crown under his belt.

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How We Got Here

SUNYAC First Round

No. 3 Buffalo State vs. No. 6 SUNY Potsdam

BUF 1 – 3 POT

No. 4 The College at Brockport vs. No. 5 Plattsburgh State

BPT 2 – 3 PLA (2OT)

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SUNYAC Semifinals

No. 1 SUNY Geneseo vs. No. 6 SUNY Potsdam

GEN 7 – 0 POT

No. 2 Oswego State vs. No. 5 Plattsburgh State

OSW 4 – 1 PLA (on Tuesday)

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SUNYAC Championship

No. 1 SUNY Genseo vs. No. 2 Oswego State

Score TBD

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Prediction and Final Thoughts

In this week’s feature for the men’s hockey team in the weekly issue of The Oswegonian, head coach Ed Gosek said it best: “This is it.” The Lakers do not have the PairWise to bank on. Last season, even when Oswego State lost, unless something absolutely insane happened within the PairWise, it had a spot in the NCAA tournament. This season, the Lakers have to win the SUNYAC Championship to have shot at the NCAA tournament. That is it.

SUNY Geneseo is tough, there is no doubt about it. But with the surge of different players scoring during the second half of the season—even with the 5-3 loss against SUNY Geneseo—this third matchup could be interesting.

Gosek has continuously said how difficult it is beat a team three times in one season. Yes, Oswego State did it against Plattsburgh State. But, even last year, SUNY Geneseo could not accomplish the feat last season against the Lakers, going 2-0-1 after the tie on Oswego State’s Senior Night.

As a historical note, Gosek and myself (Ben Grieco) had a nice conversation during our interview about different SUNYAC Championships over the years. In all of their crowns, the Lakers have only won it twice on the road: in 2014 and 1991. Both of the wins were in Geneseo. As I said in my story, “While there have been more setbacks for the Lakers this season compared to other seasons, history sometimes has a funny way of repeating itself.”

The biggest question remains: will Oswego State take home its 11th SUNYAC Championship and the first of the decade?

Prediction: 6-5 SUNY Geneseo to receive the automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament.

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Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian