OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men’s ice hockey team (2-0-0) bounced back from Friday night’s slow start by scoring five goals in the first period en route to a 9-0 win over Elmira (0-1-0) Saturday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena. The line of Luke Moodie, Paul Rodrigues, and Jon Whitelaw accounted for a large portion of the scoring with the trio tallying six goals and six assists.
The shutout marked the second straight game that the Lakers have kept the Soaring Eagles off the scoreboard, as Oswego State blanked Elmira, 5-0, in last year’s NCAA quarterfinal contest.
Both squads got a feel for each other during the first half of the opening period until Elmira gained a 5-on-3 advantage for just over a minute following a pair of Laker infractions. Right after Oswego State returned one of those players to the ice, Zach Josepher (Sr., Wantagh, N.Y.) gained control of the puck in the defensive zone and hit Matt Singleton (Sr., Whitby, Ontario) with a pass at neutral ice as he was coming off the bench. He skated in alone on Elmira netminder Darren McDonald for the backhanded goal on the glove side at 9:54.
Less than two minutes later, the Lakers made it 2-0 when they capitalized on a defenseman who lost his stick and the Soaring Eagles could not clear the zone. Nick Rivait (So., Kingsville, Ontario) sent a pass from the right point toLuke Moodie (Sr., Oakville, Ontario) at the right dot where the puck was sent through traffic to Paul Rodrigues (Sr., Etobicoke, Ontario), who was camped out back door on the left pipe.
It became a three-goal contest when Tyler Leimbrock (Sr., Bolton, Ontario) tapped in a pass from Chris Muise (Sr., Oakville, Ontario) on the subsequent draw at 12:28. The marker prompted Elmira to call timeout and pull McDonald in favor of Matt Milne.
Oswego State went on the power play again at 13:20 after a charging penalty, and the Lakers made the visitors pay under a minute later. Moodie put a shot on goal with players from both sides charging the net. Milne was in position to make the save, but the puck trickled through his legs for Rodrigues to bury it in the empty goal. Jon Whitelaw(Sr., Huntsville, Ontario) also received an assist on the play.
Rodrigues completed the hat trick by putting away a rebound from Jon Whitelaw‘s stick, while Rivait tallied his second assist of the night at 16:54 to make it 5-0 at the end of one.
The scoring continued in the second as Moodie flipped the water bottle off of Elmira’s net with a wrist shot over Milne, who dove to the ice in an effort to poke the puck away. Rodrigues drew two defensemen on the play to hit Moodie near the blue line with the open look. Tim Carr (Sr., Burlington, Ontario) earned an assist as well.
It was not all about the Laker offense, though, as Jesse McConney (Sr., Barrie, Ontario) kept the shutout bid alive by diving in front of the goal to prevent an Elmira shot from going into the net after Andrew Hare (Sr., Burlington, Ontario) was pulled out of the net. The score remained 6-0 going into the final frame.
Moodie registered his second maker of the game when he clanged a shot off the right pipe that bounced off of Milne’s back across the goal line at 7:31, resulting in another goaltender change as Ryan deMelo replaced Milne.
Tyler Leimbrock added a top shelf glove side goal on the first shot deMelo faced in the contest at 8:06 after receiving a series of passes Chris Muise (Sr., Oakville, Ontario) and Josepher. Rodrigues capped off his performance with his fourth goal of the game at 9:22 when his shot in the slot bounced off of deMelo’s glove for Oswego State’s ninth marker. Assists went to Whitelaw and Taylor Farris (Sr., Oakville, Ontario).
Hare earned his sixth career shutout with 26 saves, while the Laker penalty kill also played a role in the shutout by forcing Elmira to go 0-for-7 with the extra skater. The trio of Soaring Eagle goalies compiled 43 saves.
Oswego State faces its first road test of the year next weekend when it travels to Brockport for a 7 p.m. tilt.
