The pre-season for the Oswego State Lakers has essentially gone as well as they could have hoped, with it staying entertaining for those who had packed the Deborah F. Stanley Arena Saturday night. The previous Saturday the Lakers took victory in dominant fashion as they won 5 to 1 over the King’s College Monarchs, with the standout performance going to Connor Gatto who marked a hat trick on the score sheet. This time they’d have a bigger challenge coming their way.

The Nazareth Golden Flyers rocked up to the Deb in their combination Hershey Bears/LA Kings Jerseys, and were looking fierce in the warmups. The Lakers on the other hand, were looking a fair bit different to how they were the previous week. Their lines looked like they had gone through a blender. Brandon Cohen was added to the first line, as was Justin Ryan. Adam Grenier got a spot as the second center, while Mike Kocsis was placed on the third line, after both of them were absent from last game’s roster. The trio of Cam Symons, Brett Fudger, and Andrew Harley were moved from 3rd to 4th line, and notable absences from the roster included CNY native Daniel Colabufo and Matt McQuade, the latter of whom exited their game against the Monarchs following a collision with Diego D’Allesandro.

The Lakers then proceeded to do the hockey equivalent of tripping over the starting line. 10 seconds into the first period, the Golden Flyers dumped the puck into the zone, Brandon Milberg went to retrieve it behind his net, it ricocheted right into the slot and the Golden Flyers scored on an empty net. The Lakers, however, were not to be deterred. Later in the period, the evening mark came from Jesse Horacek, off a deflection from Josh Simpson’s shot from the point. We’d go to the first intermission tied at 1 apiece.

The Lakers stormed out of the intermission with power, and held it in the Nazareth end with a majority to start the period. This eventually led to a faceoff to the left of netminder Lincoln Crosby, off which a quick shot from Nico Paone would bounce once or twice and barely find twine. With that the Lakers had their first lead of the game. But it wasn’t to last, as the Golden Flyers would even the score off an end-to-end rush from Cole Bauman. Three minutes later, Nazareth would have the lead again. This was thanks to a zone entry from Blake Frost, who was able to walk into the high slot nearly unopposed and put one behind then netminder Gavin McCarthy. 3 to 2 is how we’d end the first two periods.

The third period began with much physicality and energy, as the Lakers only had 20 more minutes to even or possibly better the score. It would only take them 8 and a half. Nico Paone would recover the puck in the neutral zone, allowing his comrades to regroup. Entering the zone he handed it off to Justin Ryan, after which Paone would be laid out at the blue line. Ryan took it and handed it off to a rushing Mike Kocsis, who ripped one low corner to tie it once more. Not a minute passed off the clock before the lead changed hands for the final time. Brandon Cohen would take it round the Nazareth net, hand it off to Adam Grenier, who put a shot on, and Jesse Horacek would nail it home off a rebound. 10 minutes went by, but the Golden Flyers could not even score again.

The Lakers exited the Deb with a stunning victory that was ripped from the clutches of the Golden Flyers in the last period of play. They now go on their first road trip of the season to start their regular season against the reigning div. III national champion Hobart in Geneva.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics