By Benjamin Diamond

The Oswego State women’s ice hockey team takes a huge hit with the departure of forward Megan Teachout. 

Teachout hit the transfer wire during the winter break, leaving the Lakers to go to their NEWHL rival, SUNY Potsdam. This is a blow to the Lakers offensive front as Teachout was one of the team’s point leaders before her departure. With the Lakers this season, Teachout had accumulated nine points on four goals and five assists. 

With her departure this winter, the Lakers have started to rely more on players like Ariella Haas, Chyne Kennedy, Morgan Shines and Philomena Teggart. Haas leads the Lakers in points with 16, and assists with 12. With those numbers, she has had an important impact on how the Laker offense has run this season. Being able to set up the scoring shot has come at a high rate giving the Lakers many opportunities to score. 

Kennedy, a senior, is second in points with 13, split between five goals and eight assists. Kennedy has been consistent for Oswego State, being one of a handful of players to play in all 17 games so far this season. Shines, leads the Lakers in goals this season with seven. She also has three assists to make her season point total 10. In only her sophomore season, Shines is already showing how she can continue to make a big impact on the Laker roster with her scoring ability. During the 2019-2020 season, Shines finished with eight goals and 10 assists. She is looking to break her scoring record as the season is still a few weeks away from its end.

Teggart has herself a few individual accolades that she has been awarded in her time at Oswego State, and as a senior she has continued to put up consistent numbers. This season, Teggart has posted nine total points on one goal and eight assists. Like Haas, Teggart has the ability to give her teammates this chance to score instead of taking her own shot. This style of play is what has gotten her recognized as a part of the All-NEWHL second team in 2018-2019, and to the 2020 NEWHL Championship All-Tournament Team.

Bryn White and Joanna Hiebert have been locking down the net this season, each holding low goals allowed averages. White has an average of 2.02 goals allowed per game, while Hiebert has 2.49 per game. While White does have the lower average, her overall record is only 3-4, while Hiebert’s is 6-3-1. In her 10 games started, Hiebert has a total of 185 saves on an .881 save percentage. White, in her seven games started, has 117 saves and an .893 save percentage.

But even with their goalies having solid stats across the board, the Lakers have had a rocky season. After winning six of their first nine regular season games, they have gone 3-4. Their 6-4-1 conference record slots them in the middle of the NEWHL pack. With three weeks remaining, and every game until the end of the season being versus a NEWHL opponent, the Lakers are going to have to take each game one at a time with the hopes of improving their playoff standing. In these last three weeks, the Lakers will play SUNY Canton three times, Buffalo State twice and SUNY Potsdam and Morrisville State once.

William Rogers | The Oswegonian