The Oswego State men’s club hockey team is heading to the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s (ACHA) men’s Div.I national tournament. All it took was winning two playoff games: one against The College of New Jersey Lions and the other against the Canisius University Golden Griffins.

Their first matchup was against the Lions on Feb. 17. The Lions were just coming off a huge upset win in the quarter-finals against Rochester Institute of Technology (R.I.T). The Lions were 4-22 this season heading into the playoffs. However, it was not something to discredit, as the Lions were the only team in the conference to take down the Lakers, but they were not playing their starters.

All starters were out and ready on Feb. 17, and the Lakers wasted no breath demolishing the Lions 8-0. The Lakers were dominant on both sides of the ice, out-shooting the Lions 43-28 in this shutout. 

The Lakers were hungry for a win and it showed, as Ryan Durand got the scoring started with a goal less than two minutes into the game. He was assisted by Anthony Divita and Matt Cardi. The puck traveled back and forth for about five minutes until Carter McWilliams found the net to bring the score to 2-0. Trevor Jubran and Benjamin Keever assisted him. 30 seconds later, McWilliams scored again as Jubran and Duncan Crawford assisted him. All thoughts of another Lions upset vanished as McWilliams scored once again to bring it to 4-0. He was assisted by Jeremy Keyes and Crawford and McWilliams earned a hat trick halfway through the first period. Brayden Palfi dug the Lions a bigger grave as he found the net just over 12 minutes into the game. He was assisted by Cardi and Stephen Matro as the Lakers headed into the second period up 5-0.

The game slowed down in the second period, with the Lakers focusing on defending their sizable lead and the Lions not able to put up an attack. Both teams combined for 17 shots on goal, a number that the Lakers reached in the first period of this game. The Lakers still led 5-0 heading into the third period.

Keyes extended their lead to 6-0 as he found the net off a rare assist from goalie Thomas McAleer; he was also assisted by Trevor Jubran, giving him his 23rd of the year. Adam Jubran scored five minutes later, assisted by Braydon Deming and Josh Laravia. McWilliams was not done scoring either, as he put in the final goal of the game in the waning minutes of the third period, giving him four on his day. The Lakers moved on to the conference championship game against the Golden Griffins the following day.

Once again in this tournament, the Lakers faced a bottom-three team in the NECHL, as the Golden Griffins were fourth in the conference with a record of 12-17. The Golden Griffins came off a win against Rutgers University on Feb. 16 but also an upset win against SUNY Buffalo, the team that beat the Lakers in last year’s playoffs. Emotions were running high in this championship game and it was up to either team to see who took advantage of it.

The Lakers were the opportunistic ones first, as an interference penalty in the early minutes by the Golden Griffins opened the door for scoring. Keyes found the net just under three minutes into the first period on a power play. He was assisted by McWilliams and Palfi. The Golden Griffins rattled off shot after shot, as this was the only period where they had more opportunities than the Lakers, outshooting Oswego 15-12. An elbowing penalty by Keever gave the Golden Griffins exactly what they needed and they tied the game on a power play with just under a minute to go.

The Golden Griffins were hurt again by penalties, this time a tripping call, which opened up the door for the Lakers to pounce. Trevor Jubran brought the score to 2-1 on the power play, assisted by Deming and Adam Jubran, marking Jubran’s 24th assist this season. The Lakers’ defense was on point this period, only allowing 11 shots by the Golden Griffins. The score was still 2-1 heading into the third. 

That 2-1 score became 5-1 with a blink of the eye. A cross-checking penalty by the Golden Griffins gave Deming a score on a power play, assisted by Trevor Jubran and Durand in the very early minutes of the period. Seconds later, Matro notched his sixth goal of the year, assisted by Palfi and Zach Matyasik. Keyes rang off the fifth and final goal of the Lakers in this game, as he was assisted by McWilliams once again. A much-too-late goal by the Golden Griffins brought it to 5-2 to end the game. 

This has been the season the Lakers had hoped for early in the year, as they punched their ticket to St. Louis for the ACHA National Championships in March. 

Photo by: Oswego ACHA Hockey