By Abigail Connolly

Following a win against Morrisville State Friday, Jan. 28, the Oswego State women’s ice hockey team now boasts a 9-7-1 overall record and a 6-4-1 conference record. 

After previously defeating Morrisville State at their home arena Jan. 18 with an 8-0 final score, the Lakers were able to keep their hold over the Mustangs at home in the wheelhouse with a final score of 2-1. Head coach, Mark Digby indicated that despite the closer scoring game, he believes that this game was better played than the first time these two teams faced off. 

“We were better in the 2-1 game than we were in the 8 nothing game,” Digby said. “Scores are what they are but you know, we are happy with the way that we are playing. Any time we can get 41 scoring chances in a game, we should be able to get more than two goals…all the analytics would show that we played a good hockey game.”

The Oswego State goals were scored in the first and third periods by Lizzie Burke with an assist from Morgan Shines and Simone Bednarik with an assist from Chyne Kennedy respectively. Junior Mia Conboy was impressed with the game and her teammates’ performance. 

“I thought we still played a pretty strong game, obviously it was pretty hard for us to find the back of the net but I think the other goalie on the other team played really good and she was definitely a big equalizer in the game for us,” Conboy said. “I thought we controlled the puck pretty well, even though the score didn’t show that we blew them out. The shots were a pretty big difference and the zone time, the offensive zone for us was a lot better.”

Following the Morrisville State win the Lakers currently hold the fourth slot in the NEWHL standings, falling behind Plattsburgh State, SUNY Cortland and SUNY Canton. While SUNY Canton and Oswego State are even in conference play with a 6-0-4-1 record, the Lakers’ overall record holds them back as they sit with 9-0-7-1. 

Looking towards the first weekend in February, Oswego State will face SUNY Canton, each team hoping for a move up in the conference rankings. The two teams have not faced off previously this season, making the matchup something new for the players. Digby reflects that the time of the year holds more value to teams.

“I think this time of year, it is easy to get caught looking at the standings board, and ‘oh if this happens then this,’ or ‘we got to do this, we got to do this,’ the reality is we have to continue to improve on the things we need to work on,” Digby said. “If you do those things, the results will take care of themselves. At the end of the day, as long as you get into the playoffs in our league, you’ve got a chance.”

When asked about the importance of the upcoming SUNY Canton and Buffalo State games, Conboy believes that they will hold significant importance to the team as well as the conference standing. 

“They are going to be huge,” Conboy said. “Everyone is pretty close in the league right now with points, so if we can get a few if not all of those to be wins under our belt it’s going to be huge once playoffs come around.”

The Oswego State Lakers have shown strong performances throughout the season despite that difficulty in “finding the back of the net.” With key games coming up close to the end of the season, nearing playoff games, the team has to start building on the skills they have developed. Conboy wants to see improvement in scoring in the upcoming games and learning how to make the most of positions.

“I want to improve putting the pucks in the back of the net, I think we have worked on our D-zone so much, our offensive zone, our neutral zone, we have worked on those so much during practice and you can see them growing in the games,” Conboy said. “Capitalizing on all the opportunities we get is going to make the difference.”

Digby refelected on recent games and ways to see improvement and hopes to see more coercion on the ice for the upcoming conference games. 

“The biggest area… getting our forwards and our defense connected in all three zones,” Digby said. “I feel like there are certain times where our defense are making one play and our forwards are thinking another play. And that happens in all three zones, our forwards trying to support our defense in areas that just don’t make sense given the scenarios.” 

Current leading scorers Morgan Shines, Kyleigh Grugin and Chyne Kennedy will look to improve their personal standings in the coming games, alongside leading point scorers Ariella Haas and Philomena Teggart. The team will look to improve on scoring and communication on the ice. 

Oswego State women’s hockey will host SUNY Canton in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall Friday, Feb. 4 with a puck drop at 3:00 p.m. before heading on the road to play at SUNY Canton Saturday, Feb. 5. 

Erin Blank | The Oswegonian