The Oswego State men’s ice hockey team (5-2, 4-2 SUNYAC) picked up where they left off in Brockport two weeks ago, winning in convincing fashion against the SUNY Potsdam Bears (2-7, 0-6 SUNYAC) this evening, 7-1, in the opening game of White Out Weekend.
The Lakers put pressure on Bears’ sophomore goalie Austin Keisner from the opening moment and found their first goal just over two minutes into the game. Freshman Matt Galati notched his team-leading seventh of the season.
Galati picked up a short pass from his line mate, freshman Dylan Smith, and beat Keisner just inside the right pipe from the high slot. Junior assistant captain Bobby Gertsakis picked up his first of three assists on the night, grabbing the secondary.
It would be less than four minutes before Oswego State struck again when freshman Shawn Hulshof capitalized on a second chance midway through the team’s first power play of the evening. The Lakers went 4-7 on the power play on the night, a much better percentage than their usual 17.2 mark.
Gertsakis sent a shot Keisner’s way and Hulshof took the rebound into the slot, turned and fired it past the Potsdam net minder. Junior transfer Mike Montagna received the secondary assist on the goal, his first of three.
Hulshof and Montagna were not done scoring, as they worked together for the Lakers’ third of the first period at the 13:20 mark, once again on the power play.
At 7:12 of the second period, Potsdam found what would be its only goal from a player familiar with the stat sheet.
Senior Mike Arnold scored his fifth goal in the Bears’ last four contests. The captain put the finishing touches on an efficient three-on-one, leaving the only blemish on Zawadzki’s record for the night. Sophomore Todd Thomas recorded his sixth assist of the season, while freshman Tommy Telesca tallied his second.
Over the final 12 minutes of play the Lakers tacked on two more goals, both scored by freshmen. Stephen Johnson and Smith each scored a goal to add to the Oswego State lead.
First, at 10:50 of the period, Johnson blasted a shot past Keisner off a feed from the heart of the left faceoff circle. Freshman Kenny Neil picked up the assist.
Smith capped off the scoring in the second period with a power play goal with 37 seconds remaining. The goalie struggled to clear the puck from behind his net and left it in the area for Smith who put it off the back of Keisner’s left leg and in to the net, as he was trying to retreat and defend the crease.
In the opening six minutes of the final period, the Bears sent two men to the box within one minute and 15 seconds, giving the Lakers the game’s first five-on-three advantage.
Just after sophomore Jake Rivera, the first player sent off, returned, freshman Alex Botten released Arnold as well, beating Keisner five-hole. The shot deflected off
SUNY Potsdam senior Ryan Miller who had gotten down in an attempt to block it. Montagna and Gertsakis were each credited with assists.
The sixth goal ended Keisner’s night, as senior Shane Talarico replaced him. However, Talarico lost could not stop the Laker offense either.
Oswego State scored once again with a player in the bin, but this time it was one of its own. Senior David Titanic put the game’s final goal of the game with the team on the penalty kill.
Titanic and sophomore transfer Brandon Adams played give-and-go and moved up ice with the final connection being buried by the captain, his first goal of the season.
The Lakers will look to carry this momentum in to tomorrow night as they play in the second game of this year’s “White Out Weekend” against their SUNYAC rivals, the Plattsburgh State Cardinals.
The Cardinals are ranked No. 1 in the nation and are coming off a convincing 4-0 win tonight over SUNY Cortland. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center Ice Arena.
