PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — The No. 4/4 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team was nearly untouchable for 60 minutes in a 5-2 victory at Plattsburgh on Saturday night at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. With the triumph, the Lakers stay perfect in league play at 6-0-1 and move to 8-1-1 overall while the Cardinals drop to 5-7-0, 3-6-0.
Oswego come out firing on all cylinders, keeping the puck in the Plattsburgh zone for a majority of the first period, to the tune of a 14-4 shots on-goal advantage. Plattsburgh looked to draw first blood with a power-play chance exactly five minutes into the contest. Oswego was up to the task, not allowing a Cardinal shot to kill the two-minute boarding infraction. Just 1:20 after the Plattsburgh power-play ended, Michael Gillespie opened the scoring. At 8:20, a scrum along the boards found a loose puck squirting out and gathered by the freshman. Gillespie buried the puck in the back of the net for his third goal of the year, unassisted.
The well-oiled machine kept revving into the middle period, cashing in three goals to carry a 4-0 advantage into the final intermission. After a Plattsburgh penalty for roughing, the Lakers earned a controversial power-play goal. A lengthy discussion between the referees and goal judge revealed a Mitch Emerson goal from Josh Zizek and Aaron Huffnagle at 7:43.
Oswego then stymied the Cardinals on another penalty-kill situation, not allowing a Plattsburgh opportunity for déjà vu to the first period Laker penalty-kill. The complexion of the game changed for good in the final five minutes of the second. A Mitch Herlihey shot was initially saved by the Cardinal goalie but he lost track of the rebound. With the puck sitting out in front, sophmore Joseph Molinaro swooped around the back of the net to score at 15:38. Herlihey and Cameron Berry were both credited with helpers.
Just 23 seconds later, Herlihey would make good on an unselfish play by Zizek. Zizek forced a turnover in the Plattsburgh offensive zone and dished to his senior captain, who rocketed a shot just under the cross bar for the Lakers’ fourth goal of the night. With 40 minutes in the books, Oswego held a 28-10 disparity over the host in shots on-goal.
In the final period, Oswego made it a five-goal margin when senior Cameron Berry beat the Plattsburgh goalie off passes from Molinaro and Gillespie. The tally was on the power play to finish a 2-for-4 night for the extra-man unit. Prior to that, the penalty-kill squad had to stop an abbreviated Plattsburgh power-play, and for the third time of the night, the Lakers did not surrender a single Cardinal shot attempt.
Plattsburgh would go on to score two late goals but Cedric Hansen saved 22 Cardinal chances to improve to 4-1-0 on the year.
Oswego will now be on winter break until it returns to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 30 to face Neumann University in the first game of the Middlebury College Holiday Classic.
