The Oswego State men’s hockey team heads into two big games this weekend after a hard fought 2-1 win against SUNY Cortland.

On Friday, the Lakers play against SUNY Brockport, a team they haven’t lost to since 2014. Although, in their last matchup, the Lakers did tie with the Golden Eagles 2-2 during the 2019-2020 season. So far this season, Brockport is 5-0 overall and 3-0 in SUNYAC play, while the Lakers are 2-2-1 overall and 2-0-1 in SUNYAC play. The Lakers know how important this game is early in the season as it will help set the tone for other SUNYAC matchups down the line. They will also try to keep the unbeaten streak versus  SUNY Brockport alive, but that is not what they are worried about right now according to Laker forward Josh LeBlanc. 

“I didn’t even realize that we had that record against Brockport over the last seven years,” LeBlanc said. “But it’s another game, those stats are cool to know and important, but the job at hand is to come away with the points we need, and we are just going to focus on the process to get us there.”

LeBlanc is one of the Lakers top players, sporting three points on two goals and an assist in five games so far this season. He is also one of the longer tenured Lakers, having played with the team back during the 2018-2019 season. In his first season with the Lakers, LeBlanc had nine points on four goals and five assists. LeBlanc looks to continue to improve himself, as well as improve with the team as the 2021-2022 season moves along.

Once the Lakers get through the Golden Eagle game, they are greeted by another 5-0 team in the reigning SUNYAC champions, the SUNY Geneseo Knights. Like SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo is also 3-0 in their conference matchups so far this season. The last time the Lakers played  SUNY Geneseo, they were knocked out of the 2019-20 SUNYAC playoffs. Every player from that Lakers team remembers what happened and is fired up to get another chance to take down the champs. LeBlanc said that there is pressure on the team to win, so they can show that they mean business and are a force in the SUNYAC.

“I haven’t beat them in my time here so it’s been a personal vendetta, I know for me and a lot of those guys,” LeBlanc said. “I think their time is done, it’s our turn. There is a lot of bad blood between us and Geneseo, so it’s a show up and show out kind of game.”

LeBlanc and the whole Lakers team believe that this game will be a good indicator for how the rest of the season goes. If they can put up a fight with one of the best teams in the league, they can show the rest of the league they are up there with the best of them. 

“They are going to be one of the best teams we play all year,” LeBlanc said. “It’s going to be a good game to see where we stand with them, and a win would be a massive boost to our confidence.”

What had given the team a confidence boost was the team’s gutsy win over the Cortland Red Dragons. Within the last few minutes of the game, Laker goalie, Steven Kozikoski, had to make a bunch of tough saves in order to sustain the teams one goal lead. He and the defense were able to hold the game down and steal it from  SUNY Cortland. LeBlanc said that any game against a conference opponent is going to be important, and anytime they can come away with a win will boost the confidence throughout the entire locker room. As the team continues to build confidence, their play on the ice will improve along with it. LeBlanc said that the team needs to take the season a game at a time in order to stay in sync with one another. 

“That was a hard earned game,” LeBlanc said. “We’ll take those points how they come. It was an emotional night for a lot of the guys, especially being the one game we had over the weekend, it was the only game on our mind the entire week, so to get that win felt really good and we’re going to try and carry that forward through this weekend.”

The biggest part of the Lakers’ game plan going into the big weekend is making sure they start off games fast. The Lakers have been known as a second period team. In order to make sure they are setting the tone of the game, the Lakers know they need to come out of the gates firing to put pressure on their opponents. LeBlanc believes that in order to be able to put the pressure on their opponents, they need to start the game angry, and continue that throughout the game so they are playing at their pace and not their opponents.

“I think we got to play [ticked] off, and play mean,” LeBlanc said. “We know what we are capable of and I think that’s the biggest thing. We usually start off games by assessing the other team, but we gotta come out playing fast and hard because it’s not about them, it’s about us.”

The Lakers look to put this new mentality to practice this weekend when they play the Brockport Golden Eagles in Brockport at 7:00 p.m. on Friday Nov. 19, and then the SUNY Geneseo Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 20 at the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. 

Shelby Peplowski | The Oswegonian