In the final weekend of their regular season, the Oswego State women’s hockey team won matchups against both Buffalo State University and William Smith College to clinch the No. 2 seed in the SUNYAC playoffs this coming week.

The Lakers beat Buffalo State 5-2 on Friday, Feb. 20, and won 2-1 against William Smith on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Going into Friday, the Lakers’ first matchup was against Buffalo State. Five minutes into the first period, Oswego’s Kayla Doerre got a penalty to give Buffalo State the power play. Buffalo did not end up capitalizing on the opportunity. Late into the first period, the Bengals gave a power play to the Lakers for tripping. The Lakers did not capitalize on this opportunity either. This did not matter for the Lakers, though. As the Bengals were getting back into full strength Oswego’s Alexandra O’Brien shot and scored to put the Lakers up 1-0. The Bengals responded quickly after losing the faceoff and pushed the puck up in transition for Buffalo State’s Vanessa Willick to tie the game at 1-1 less than a minute later. 

The very busy second period had three goals from the Lakers and one from the Bengals. Oswego’s Lauren Riccobelli scored four minutes into the second period. The Lakers then went on another power play where they put one in the back of the net, thanks to Helen VanDamme getting her first goal of the year. The last goal this period by the Lakers was scored by Georgia Cunliffe to put the Lakers up three goals halfway through the second period, giving the Lakers a comfortable lead. However, the Bengals did not go anywhere as Sydney Radecki scored on a power play to put them back into a two-goal game late in the second period. Going into the third period, the Lakers struck quickly with Jenna Majewski putting the final goal of the game in the back of the net to put the Lakers back up three. The Lakers proceeded to hold the Bengals to two goals and win the game. 

The next morning, the Lakers faced a stronger team in the SUNYAC, No. 4, William Smith, in the final game of the regular season and a massive game for the Lakers’ No. 2 seed. The game was low scoring with the Lakers winning 2-1. Liliana Ficaro started off hot for the Lakers, punching in the first goal five minutes into the first period, giving Oswego momentum early in this game. Not long after Leah Coley skated, got the puck on her stick, and scored the second goal less than two minutes after to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead. The Herons responded 40 seconds later with Rowan Kennedy putting William Smith right back into the game down by only one goal, not even halfway through the first period. This ended up being the last goal scored by both teams for the rest of the game, and the Lakers proceeded to win 2-1 over the Herons to clinch the second seed in the playoffs. 

The Lakers’ next stop is the SUNYAC playoffs, playing at home in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena this Feb. 28. The Lakers have a first-round bye because they are the second seed in the SUNYAC, and on Saturday, Feb 28, they will face SUNY Cortland for the Semifinals.