Despite losing their top five scorers from last season, the Lakers men’s hockey team will have home ice advantage throughout the SUNYAC playoffs. If all goes as planned this weekend, they will be undefeated heading into the playoffs. Heading into the weekend, the Lakers are 13-0-1 with 27 points in conference play, six more than second-place SUNY Geneseo. Although Oswego State has not lost a game in conference play, this weekend’s slate is arguably the toughest duo of games they will face all season. The Lakers play SUNY Potsdam on Friday night, who currently sit tied for fourth in the SUNYAC with Plattsburgh State, whom the Lakers play on Saturday. Fourth place seems pretty safe, however, both teams are not guaranteed to make the playoffs, as seventh-place The College at Brockport is just one point behind.
Although this would be something that has not been done since the 2011-12 Lakers, Oswego State does not really care about possibility of an undefeated season.
“We have a chance to finish our conference undefeated, and that’s a heck of an accomplishment, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t mean anything. You don’t get a win from it,” senior captain Mitch Herlihey said. This encapsulates what the team thinks of the accolade. As impressive and rare as it might be, going undefeated means nothing come playoff time.
Heading into this season, The Oswegonian hockey preview ranked the Lakers behind SUNY Geneseo in the SUNYAC. While the Ice Knights have had a good year with a 9-3-3 record, the Lakers have exceeded expectations.
A huge component of the team’s success has been goaltending, provided by David Richer and Cedric Hansen. Coming into the season, they had just two games of college hockey experience. Twenty three games into the season, the duo has given up just 40 goals, the fewest in the conference. While outsiders may have lacked confidence in this inexperienced
inexperienced tandem to start the season, the coaching staff knew they had the ability to be some of the best in the SUNYAC.
“[We were actually] pretty confident in both [goalies]. You look at some of the games Cedric [Hansen] had in the first half. Up in Plattsburgh, he was outstanding,” assistant coach Mark Digby said. “It’s a different game if one of those two breakaways in the third [period] go in.”
Clearly, the goaltenders were able to establish themselves as above-average players, especially early on when they gave up just two goals to No. 9/10 Hobart College on Oct. 29 and one to SUNY Cortland on Nov. 3. As the season progressed and the goalies developed, the Lakers did not change styles, according to their coaches.
“The continued emphasis has been playing well defensively. When you’ve got a goaltender playing well, on one hand, you can give up more opportunities [and he’ll bail you out,] but on the other, if you give up less opportunities, you’ll give up less goals than ever,” Digby said. “This time of year, it comes back to defense, and it’s about how many pucks you’re keeping out of your net, not how many you are putting in the other team’s.”
While the Lakers have not changed schematically, they have been able to find the back of the net more in the second half of the season. In their first seven SUNYAC games, the Lakers scored 29 goals compared to the 30 goals they scored in their last seven games. While this does not seem like a big difference, the first half was padded by an unusual seven-goal performance against SUNY Cortland. The second half has been extremely consistent with the Lakers scoring four or five goals in every conference game.
“[In the] beginning of the year, we were lacking [speed]. [We were] playing really defensively, getting those grinding goals, but now we are putting it all together, and that’s good to see. It comes with players becoming more familiar with each other,” Herlihey said.
With the scoring and chemistry developing, the Lakers have primed themselves to win their final games of the season and reach that undefeated mark. When it comes to hockey, it is vital to get hot at the right time. If they peak too early, they will be gassed by crunch time. If they peak too late, they will not even be in a position to make the playoffs. These Lakers are hitting their stride at just the right time. Early, on the team found wins via low scoring defensive games. Now, they are scoring but still playing great defense, as shown by a sub-1.00 goals against average in Richer’s last five games. Because of that, he has been named SUNYAC Goalie of the Week in back-to-back weeks.
Despite the fact the Lakers are down playing their record and what going undefeated in conference play means, this accolade is still pretty significant. It may not show up in the box score or game previews, but knowing the Lakers have beaten every team they may face in the postseason is a huge advantage. Conversely, if the Lakers’ opposition has not been able to beat them, their psyche may be affected, even slightly. Although both opponents competing Whiteout Weekend need the wins, it is not like the Lakers are playing for nothing.
