An energetic, down to the wire finish was certainly what the doctor ordered for the Oswego State men’s hockey team at the end of their regular season. One that was filled with ups and downs, triumphant victories and frustrating losses. The Lakers swept their rivals, the Plattsburgh State Cardinals in the regular season, winning both their home and away contests, both by multiple goals. 

Due to their succesfull season, the Lakers got a bye into the second round of the SUNYAC Playoffs, leaving the opening round to be contested by seeds 3 through 6. The no.3 Buffalo State Bengals would take victory to the tune of 6-4 over the no.6 SUNY Canton Kangaroos in a high scoring game with neither team eclipsing 30 shots. On the other side of the bracket, the no.4 Plattsburgh State Cardinals took it to the no.5 Potsdam Bears and handed them a loss at the Fieldhouse, 5-3. With the seeding rules, the no.1 SUNY Cortland Red Dragons would take the lower remaining seed, that being Plattsburgh, so the Lakers had to take on the Bengals. 

It was time for the Lakers to exorcise their demons that developed over the two games they and the Bengals had played. In November, a 2-1 overtime winner from the Bengals shocked the home crowd after a bad turnover from Lakers captain Matt McQuade, in a game where the Lakers’ word of the day was “miscues.” The Bengals got into the heads of the Lakers when they played each other in the Queen City in early February, resulting in a 4-2 loss. They would have to get those games out of their head and play a game like they certainly knew how to. 

The Lakers came out flying in the first period, trying their best to be the first mark on the board and to their credit, they were the ones controlling play for the majority of the first period. The Bengals had one thing over Oswego, speed and lots of it. While they may have been faster than the Lakers themselves, they were not faster than their puck movement. Oswego used this fact to their advantage, putting on a passing clinic in this game with many a stretch pass, or passing play on zone entry. However, due to the goaltending efforts of both Brandon Millberg and Marcus Cumberworth, the game was scoreless at the end of the first period.

The second period did not bring the greatest of tidings to start, as the Bengals scored the first goal of the game off a breakaway. But then it was time for the Brandon Cohen show. He answered the call 20 seconds later and put a second goal on the board two minutes later. His two goals, assisted by Travis Baker and Daniel Colabufo respectively, gave life to the defeated Oswego crowd. 

The third period gave us some pause for thought to start, but the Lakers put our worries to rest with two goals in just the first half of the period, courtesy of Drake Semrad and Colabufo. Shortly after, Bengals’ Niklas Miller would go to the box for slashing and Michael Marquez would put Buffalo State’s second goal on the board to make it 4-2. Their comeback ended quite abruptly though, as Ryan Burke would pot an empty netter to finish the game at 5-2 and punch the Lakers’ ticket to the SUNYAC championship. 

If the score of the Cortland-Plattsburgh game had stayed the same as it was at the end of the 3rd, they would have been going to Cortland to play in the championship. The Cardinals, however, made one of the greatest comebacks in SUNYAC history, scoring three goals in the third to tie it 3-3 and won in overtime 4-3. As a result, the championship will be held at the Deborah F. Stanley Arena on Saturday, March 8.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics