The Oswego State women’s hockey team returned home this week after a road trip up north to play two NEWHL opponents. The Lakers split the weekend after a loss to SUNY Potsdam on Nov. 4 but rebounded with a victory against SUNY Canton on Nov. 5.

The Bears defeated the Lakers 2-1 in the Maxcy Hall Ice Arena after Kaylee Merrill found the net twice in the second period. Ashlyn McGrath was the lone scorer in the third period for Oswego State as she scored on the powerplay. Although the team fell, McGrath thought the team played well.

“We overworked [SUNY] Potsdam,” McGrath said. “There were some unfortunate penalties that helped us take a setback. It was definitely a hard loss for us especially because everyone worked well. It was a game we should not have lost.” 

Oswego State put 34 shots on net against the Bears. Head coach Mark Digby brought up that the team needed to find more team play instead of individual opportunities.

“As many chances that we had to score, most of them were individual chances,” Digby said. “Player picks one off on the penalty kill, we go in on a breakaway. Make a play on the forecheck, make a play on the net. But it was not a very strong team game.”

The Lakers rebounded the next day at SUNY Canton as the team tallied multiple goals for the first time this season. Oswego State scored three powerplay goals to push past the Roos in the first meeting this campaign. Digby saw the change in the style the Lakers brought to the contest.

“The players did a really nice job adjusting heading into Saturday,” Digby said. “We had a lot of conversations about playing as a group and sticking to our way of playing. A lot of those gray area plays that sometimes go unnoticed, we started to make more of them and stacked more plays on top of those.”

Goaltender Lexi Levy also bounced back in the win against SUNY Canton. Levy made 43 saves over the span of the two contests and recorded her first win as an Oswego State netminder. This was the first time this season that the goaltender played back-to-back games over the course of a weekend.

“I thought she was solid,” Digby said. “She fought a couple pucks Friday night, but she made all the saves she needed to make, and she gave us a chance.”

After the two conference games, Oswego State has two points and holds the fourth spot in the NEWHL standings. The Lakers head into another two conference matchups this weekend as the team prepares for Morrisville State. Digby is looking to build on what the team was able to accomplish against the Roos.

“Trying to build on what we did last week which was defensive zone breakouts and getting pucks out of our zone,” Digby said. “As we get more pucks out of our zone, we will create more in the offensive zone and more on the rush. But it is also execution on the offensive side…that starts in practice.”

The Lakers average 1.5 goals per game after four contests in the 2022-23 season. Newly named captain Taylor Hudon added in focusing each and every day to elevate the team’s game.

“Just staying dialed in and refocused mindset heading into the weekend,” Hudon said. “Instead of being too carefree but having fun when you are playing. We also have to be really focused on your role.”

The Mustangs enter the weekend with an 0-3-1 overall record after losing their previous two games to Plattsburgh State. The Lakers have won their previous five matchups against Morrisville State with three of those contests being shutouts. Digby relates back to the Adrian College weekend in preparation for these upcoming contests.

“You want to go out and get a good start and play well the first night,” Digby said. “You want to roll that momentum into the second night and play it as one big game instead of two games. If you can build momentum in the first period and try to continue to wear them down in the second period and the third period. That should hopefully roll into Saturday. If it goes well, you obviously hope to start the game Saturday in the right mindset. If it does not, you got to use that as motivation and bounce back.”

The Lakers will head on the road on Nov. 11 for a 4 p.m. puck drop in Morrisville before returning home the following day for a 3 p.m. puck drop in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena.

Photo via Oswego Athletics