The Oswego State club hockey team faced the Syracuse University Orange on Oct. 26 in their “Pink The Rink’’ game. The game is meant to fundraise for The Menninger Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to support children and their families battling breast cancer. In a very even matchup in the first two periods, the Lakers lost to the Orange in a shootout, with the final score after being 4-3. 

The first period saw plenty of back-and-forth action until the Orange opened up the scoring with a goal just under 12 minutes into the period. After a tripping penalty from the Orange, the Lakers capitalized on that power play with a goal from Jeremy Keyes, assisted by Carter McWilliams and Anthony Divita. Just over a minute later, the Orange were back in the lead and the score was brought to 2-1. In the last two minutes of the period, the Lakers scored two goals to bring them to a 3-2 lead. The first was from Ryan Saelens, assisted by Zach Matyasik and Josh Laravia. The second came from Divita, assisted by Ryan Durand and Matt Cardi. 

The second period has plenty of offensive opportunities for both teams, with the Lakers outshooting the Orange 10-9. However, the period also saw a lack of discipline from both teams, with a combined seven penalties assessed between both teams. Neither team found the net in this period, as the Lakers led 3-2 heading into the third.

The Orange took over in the third, as they wasted no time tying up the score with a goal just under 90 seconds into the period. The Lakers offense was stifled, as they put up only seven shots in the period while the Orange put up 17. Neither offense was able to score before the period ended, and the game headed into overtime. 

Overtime was similar to the second period minus the penalties, as neither team were able to find the net, and the game headed to a shootout.

The Orange shot first, and goaltender Thomas McAleer was able to make the stop. Braydon Deming was up for the Lakers first, and he missed his shot. McAleer stopped the second attempt by the Orange, and the Orange blocked the second shot for the Lakers by Keyes. Again, McAleer made a stop, but so did the Orange with Trevor Jubran’s attempt. The fourth shot from both teams were misses, as McWilliams shot for the Lakers. The fifth goal was the charm for the Orange and they won the game after Durand missed. 

Since it was a home-weekend split, the Lakers traveled to face the Orange on Oct. 27. This game was not too friendly for the Lakers either, as two third-period goals from the Orange solidified their 3-1 win.

The Orange repeated their performance from the first matchup, as they opened up the scoring again in this game, with a goal just two minutes into it. Animosities were at an all-time high at this point, as the back-end of the first period saw two players from both teams penalized for roughing. The Lakers were not able to score in this period, as the Orange led 1-0 heading into the second. 

The Lakers were able to score in the second period, as Divita found the goal. He scored just under four minutes into the period, and was assisted by Andrew and Matt Cardi. There was still boiled-over anger from both sides of the ice, as players from both teams were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties within the period. The goal by the Lakers was the only score of the period, as it was a 1-1 tie heading into the third.

The Lakers found themselves on the wrong end of scoring in the third period, as the Orange scored two goals within the first ten minutes. The Lakers outshot the Orange 12-11 in this period, but were not able to capitalize as they went on to lose 3-1. 

The Lakers move on to face Mercyhurst University on Nov. 3, followed by The College of New Jersey on Nov. 4 and 5.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics