Oswego State club hockey is riding high after a 3-1 performance the past two weekends.

The team has found themselves the beneficiary of three of their last four matchups, sweeping Kent State University and splitting games with Canisius College. Last weekend the Lakers played well despite third-period struggles on Oct. 15 and retaliated with a 9-4 victory against Canisius College with 59 shots on goal.  

Head coach Travis Hyde was thrilled to see his team play on the road for the first time this season and attributed their success to solid work on every phase of the ice. 

“The team came together and played a complete weekend defensively, offensively and systematically,” Hyde said. “We knew Kent was going to struggle a bit against our speed and structure so we wanted to be disciplined in our game and it paid off. Adversity in the beginning of the year tends to set for some really solid learning experiences, including having a bit more discipline.” 

After losing their first two games of the year, the Lakers now sit at 3-3 going into their homestand against Lehigh University. There is a lot of excitement coming from this roster in the first six games but Hyde knows that this team can stay disciplined if they keep focus.

“Our biggest issue has been absorbing our emotions when we face small amounts of adversity at a point in the game,” Hyde said. “The few losses we have had this year, quick goals or bad calls have haunted us. This week, we have learned we can’t afford to take any shifts off, and have to keep our foot on the gas for the entire game while working hard off the puck so we can win our battles and stay out of the box.”

Goaltender for the Lakers Alex Gallose has been a long-term member of the team and has seen it all. He prides himself on being a leader for this team and being a huge asset in the net. 

“Playing on the team for what’s now five years, I think I take a decent amount of responsibility in trying to help prepare the guys in the locker room for how ACHA hockey is played,” Gallows said. “A lot of guys come in and have their own perception of what they think club hockey is like so it’s definitely a learning curve from day one.”

In game one against Canisius College, the Lakers led into the third period and then gave up three straight goals in a minute and thirty seconds. 

“Those three goals against Canisius go back to breakdowns,” Gallose said. “Our biggest issue this year has been not being able to play a full 60 minutes and we lost that game in a minute and a half despite playing really good hockey for 58 minutes. I know my capabilities and reputation so I’m hard on myself because we have high expectations as a team and I want to do everything I possibly can to help us meet our goals.”

When forward Trevor Jubran came in as a freshman he had already had the privilege of playing with Gallose. Now as a junior, he knows just as well as previous teams how much of a role Gallose plays for this team.

“Gallose has been the backbone of this hockey team,” Jubran said. “We wanna play for him going into his fifth year, we wanna give him a shot to receive the glory he deserves. It’s always good to know you got him back there in the net, you feel a lot more comfortable as a player and he can save every single shot that he can see.”

The key to hitting a solid win streak for the Lakers from Jubran’s perspective is to stay consistent. He said there is a lot of room for improvement on the team and they are getting close to where they want to be on the ice.

“As a team, we have been pretty good at keeping the energy high,” Jubran said. “We have had ups and downs as a team, sometimes we aren’t consistent enough which can happen but when we beat Canisius 9-4 that was our version of consistency. That is when our team plays best when we are consistent and play 60 full minutes.”

Among the leaders on this Lakers team, Hyde has big expectations for his forward Jubran. Even though he has seen good things from Jubran, Hyde knows that he can still hit his peak as a player. 

“Jubran is one of those guys that helps to keep team morale high,” Hyde said. “He loves to push guys’ buttons and crack smiles, but when it comes to business, he is as serious as anyone. He is a lead-by-example type of player who will do anything for the team. Trevor has made an impact in almost every game this season, but Trevor and I both know he has another level that he is still working to achieve that will have an even larger impact on the success of this team.”

With Lehigh University coming into town, the Lakers will have an opportunity to capitalize on small mistakes and transfer their hard work into this weekend. Gallows’s experience gives him an idea of how they can steal a couple of games at home.

“We’re constantly working to improve in practice,” Gallose said. “Learning opposing teams’ systems at film and tweaking the little things is huge and that’s no different for this weekend against Lehigh. We know we’re a better team than our record shows and Lehigh’s just another test for us to prove that.”

Jubran said that this will be an exciting matchup for the team and an interesting experience for himself to see some new faces on the other side of the ice on Oct. 22-23.

“It’s cool to play an out-of-conference team like them that I have never played before,” Jubran said. “It is gonna be fun and something where we can keep practicing consistency and playing with discipline, just trying to play as a team and try to go for another sweep.”

Alexis Fragapane | The Oswegonian