The Oswego State women’s ice hockey had their championship hopes cut short on Feb. 25. The Lakers lost by a score of 2-1 in double overtime against SUNY Cortland. 

Cortland scored first with an early goal in the first period. The second period was slower than the first as neither team scored. Things started to heat up heading into the third period. Oswego junior year forward Rachel Corbett scored the Lakers’ only goal of the game in the third period. Heading into overtime, Cortland forward Jillian Hlasnick scored the game-winning goal six minutes into double overtime. This game was a good example of how close the rivalry of Oswego versus Cortland can be. 

Now that the offseason has begun for women’s hockey, the players will not be able to train as much as they would like, so they need to find different ways to continue to improve their game. In an interview with sophomore Lakers goalie, Lexi Levy, she explained what steps she will take to continue to train during the offseason.

  “During the offseason I am definitely going to get back on the ice with my goalie coach. Definitely going to see him as much as I can and just push heavy weights in the gym, build more strength and hopefully carry that into next season,” Levy said.

Although Levy will not be able to work with her coach as much as she would during the regular season, she still will be looking to improve her game and become a better player during this offseason. 

The Lakers will be looking to continue to work hard and play hard in the offseason. After their heartbreaking loss in the NEWHL semifinals against Cortland, the Lakers need to take some time to recap and appreciate the work that they put in this season. Laker women’s hockey coach,  Mark Digby, recognizes that his team had to go up against some tough opponents all year. Digby is proud of his team for producing a winning season even with the strength of their schedule. Digby said how his team should take some time away now that the offseason is upon them.

  “Especially this second half of the year, we’ve been going at a pretty good pace. So I like taking a little bit of time just to step back and look at it through a different lens than you do when you’re in season,” Digby said. 

Digby acknowledges that taking time to regroup after a tough loss will be important for his players.

“When you get out of the season you can take a third-party perspective and really try to evaluate ‘what did we do well and what did we have to do better?’ Then we try and make sure that the incoming players understand where we’re at so that we are not having to start from square one, but we can pick up where we are right now,” Digby said. 

Digby does not want to look ahead to next season just yet, and appreciate the work his seniors have put in to get the team to where it got this season.

  “To start looking ahead at this point is probably not fair to our seniors. I think we need to take some time to appreciate what we’ve had with them and kind of the relationships and everything that we’ve built there and then I think we’ll meet later on this week as a team just to recap and give the plan moving forward,” Digby said. 

Digby knows that after a long winter hockey season, it is best to take some time to relax and not stress about when the next big game is. 

Photo via: Oswego Athletics