The No. 8/10 Oswego State women’s hockey team tied William Smith College 1-1 on Saturday and failed to secure a home playoff game throughout the remainder of the postseason.
The Lakers were off to a great start after a power play goal scored by freshman Eryn Stewart at 5:28 in the first period. She was able to deflect Victoria Blake’s shot form the point past Maggie Salmon.
“[Blake] and I have had this thing all season where she shoots it and I get my stick on it somehow, and we’ve gotten a couple of goals that way,” Stewart said.
Kate Klimaszewski of the Herons responded to Stewart’s goal at the end of the first at the 18:00 mark. Her goal not only put the Herons on the board, but that tally was the final goal on the game itself.
Heading into the second period on a power play, the Lakers had an advantage over the Herons, but were unable to execute any goals.
Throughout the game, the Lakers were consistently in the Heron’s defensive zone, but Heron’s goalie, Maggie Salmon, kept her eyes on the puck, stopping nearly every shot. Salmon stopped 58 of 59 shots she faced during 65 minutes of play.
“When we tied it up I was disappointed, but it really motivated me to keep pushing,” Stewart said. “[Salmon] did play outstanding, but we could have done more to put the puck in the net.”
Between the pipes for the Lakers was Mariah Madrigal. Madrigal faced 18 shots total for the game.
“Their goalie definitely was their strongest point,” Madrigal said. “I think she played outstanding, and I think she kept her team in the game and is the reason why they kept a tie and had the win last night.”
Oswego State gained the upper hand in the third period with a 5-on-3 power play, but again the Lakers were unable to convert.
“It’s great to have a 5-on-3 because you can get incredibly good looks at the net, and we did, but there’s also a pressure to score,” Dillon said. “I think our hands got a little tight and we made some questionable decisions on where we moved the puck, but, we had some great scoring chances.”
According to Dillon, this game proved to the Lakers that if they want to advance in the playoffs they’re going to have to give it their all and work for it.
“We have some things to prove and we’ve had some great games this year, we’ve knocked off some big teams and then we come and then we come and lose to a team that’s at the bottom of the barrel,” Dillon said. “We’ve got to work for everything that we get and it’s never easy.”
Oswego State will have a short week to prepare for the first round of the ECAC Women’s West playoffs. This game will be held against Utica College on Feb. 23.
