By Alexander Abramovich

The Oswego State men’s club hockey team currently sits in third place overall in the NECHL standings and playing some great hockey of late, they sit two points behind University at Buffalo for second place in the NECHL and have played one less game. 

The Lakers have won three games in a row, including back-to-back wins on the road against Rutgers University. Kicking off the winning streak was a 3-2 victory at home over Mercyhurst University on Feb. 5.

Oswego State started their successful weekend with a 5-2 win in the first game of a back-to-back matchup against Rutgers University, thanks to a three-point outing from Forward Chase Nies and 2-point performances from Thomas Sansone and Carter Mcwilliams.

In the second game of the back-to-back, the Lakers enjoyed an abundance of goals in a 7-3 win. Oswego State found themselves down 2-0 in the first period but did not yield despite the deficit. Trevor Jubran scored a goal with six minutes and 14 seconds left in the period to cut the lead to one. 

In the second period, the Lakers scored two goals in a 22-second span, with Nicholas Keyes scoring at the 8:01 mark followed by a goal from Sansone at the 8:23 mark. Impressive stuff from the Lakers, especially Keyes and Sansone recording two points in those 22 seconds. Rutgers would tie the game at three after a goal from Dylan Stein at the 13:16 mark, only his second of the season. Right before the period would come to a close, Nies would score his 11th goal of the season to give the Lakers a 4-3 lead heading into the third period.

The third period was when the Lakers pulled away, as they had scored three goals to cap off a dominating 7-3 win. Braydon Deming scored his 6th goal of the season at the 7:02 mark, followed by a power-play goal from Andrew Cardi at the 9:58 mark. Cardi would score his second goal of the period at 18:43 and would be the final score of the game. 

It was truly a dominating weekend to say the least for Oswego State and they look to keep this hot streak going into this upcoming weekend. The Lakers will travel to Buffalo on Feb. 18 to take on University at Buffalo and will then head home to take on University at Buffalo again on Feb. 19 at the Deborah F. Stanley ice arena.

This is easily the biggest weekend for Oswego State as they only trail University at Buffalo by two points so this could be a make-or-break two game stretch. Two wins could put Oswego State in control of their own destiny when they take on Rutgers University, a team they just beat twice by a combined score of 10-5, so taking both matchups would be crucial. 

After splitting games against Niagara University on Jan. 29 and 30, the Oswego State men’s club hockey team has caught fire and looks to finish their season strong with only three games left to play.

Image Provided By Aubrey Fischer