Ranked
Both teams head into this game with national rankings next to their name. Oswego State broke into the rankings this week with a No. 12 spot on both major sites. SUNY Geneseo was a Frozen Four team last season and holds the No. 4 ranking. The Ice Knights went 1-0-1 last year against Oswego State. The Lakers opened the regular season with a 3-3 tie to the Ice Knights and were outplayed when they met later on in the season, losing 3-1. This will be the biggest test both teams have had to this point of the season so buckle up.
100-Point Club
Alex Botten and Shawn Hulshof are the two closest Lakers to 100 points. Botten has 97 and Hulshof sits behind him at 96. A big game from either could put them into the Oswego State 100-point club tonight. And seeing how each of them has played this season, it wouldn’t be too surprising, despite arguably the best team in the SUNYAC coming to town. It’s a long shot for sure, but the watch for 100 points starts tonight.
Lineup Card
The biggest surprise tonight is not seeing Aaron Huffnagle. He scored last night and played another good game, but Josh Zizek is back in the lineup and taking his place. Sean Federow is also missing from the lineup again. JJ Hart is out and Charlie Pelnik draws in as well.
Laker Lines:
Hulshof-Botten-Neil
Sullivan-Davies-Galati
Herlihey-Barton-Emerson
Zizek-Waterstreet-Ferreira
Johnson-Brun
Raguseo-Rutkowski
MacMillan-Pelnik
Ice Knight Lines
Collins-Marra-Hills
Gordon-Keena-Roman0
Szmyd-Ceglarski-Brink
Anthoine-Burns(C)-Athanasopoulus
Stahl-Hampson
Condon-Russell
Lee-Flanagan
Players To Watch
Lakers- Jody Sullivan
Sullivan and the Lakers will get their first real test tonight. The CCHL alumnus has scored a goal in all three games this season and remains on the second line tonight. If he can have another solid, two-way game and create chances Sullivan will separate himself even further from the rest of the freshmen forward group.
Ice Knights- Stephen Collins
The senior will be playing on the right wing of the top line tonight yet again. That line produced 123 points a season ago, second in all of Div. III. Collins scored twice last night and tallied an assist in their blowout win to push his point total to five to start the year. One of the most prolific scorers in the SUNYAC will see the Lakers’ best defensive matchup all night and still could produce a couple points. Trevor Hills scored the most goals in the SUNYAC last year and the two could make a lot of noise tonight.
By the Numbers
Power Play
OSW-4/14 (28.6%)
GEN- 5/16 (31.2%)
Penalty Kill
OSW- 16-17 (94.1%)
GEN- 8-10 (80.0%)
Goals Per Game
OSW- 6.00
GEN- 7.00
Game Prediction
Yes, these teams average the most goals per game in the SUNYAC in the early going, but we won’t be seeing a double digit goal total tonight. The reason? Matt Zawadzki and Devin McDonald. McDonald this season is putting up fantastic numbers in a small sample size with .932 save percentage and a 1.75 goals against average. Last year he posted a .921 SV% 2.46 GAA, which ranked him third in the SUNYAC in both categories. Zawadzki’s numbers were down a bit last season, but this year he has looked good, even with his patented flopping in the crease. Despite the large crowd of Homecoming Weekend, the Lakers drop this contest in overtime.
Geneseo wins 3-2
