Lakers upset St. Norbert for first signature win of the season
In the first game at No. 4 St. Norbert’s new hockey arena, it was the No. 12 Oswego State Lakers who came away with a 5-4 upset win in the regular-season opener.
Oswego’s victory was its first win over a nationally ranked opponent since beating No. 15 Plattsburgh State on Whiteout weekend last season. The five-goal effort was highlighted by a three-point performance from returning leading scorer Colin Vassallo, while interim head coach Jon Whitelaw earned the first victory of his coaching career.
Following the game, Whitelaw noted how big of an early-season win this was for his program.
“To get a win against a top team like that is a confidence booster,” Whitelaw said while his players celebrated with music echoing out of the visitors locker room. “This program, these last couple of years, for whatever reason, has been on the wrong side of a lot of these big games. So that was kind of the challenge to this new era: finding a way to be different, finding a way to get things done.”
Following a long delay for the pre-puckdrop celebration of St. Norbert’s brand-new $23 million arena, the home team came out with all the energy, outplaying and outshooting the Lakers early on. The pressure led to Landon MacDonald’s wicked wrist shot from just above the hash marks, igniting the Green Knight fans and giving St. Norbert a 1-0 lead two minutes into the opening session.
St. Norbert continued to control much of the first half of the first period, but with seven minutes remaining, the Lakers finally caught a break as Jesse Horacek snuck past the Knights’ defense and caught a pass at the offensive blue line for a breakaway. His initial shot was saved before Brandon Cohen followed the play and knocked home the rebound to knot the game at one-all.
Just one minute, 33 seconds after the Lakers first goal, Vassallo scored to give Oswego a 2-1 lead. Vassallo’s goal was a nifty one; he picked the puck off the far-side boards for a two-on-one, rather than a pass, he forced the St. Norbert goaltender to lean to the far side and fired a shot across the grain to the short side.
Vassallo reflected on the pressure heading into the game and on how it felt to be back on the ice in a nationally ranked matchup.
“I feel great, me and the boys showed up and we got the win, it’s exciting,” Vassallo said. “It feels great; you go out there and everything kind of falls into place. I know it was a new rink, but we didn’t let that get in our heads.”
After scoring two goals, the Lakers controlled play and outshot the Green Knights 12-9, while holding them off the board for the remainder of the period, killing off two penalties.
The Green Knights brought the crowd back into play just a minute into the second period courtesy of Bryan Gilman, whose first of the season tied the game. The goal came on a weak, partially screened shot from just below the blue line that trickled through the five-hole of Oswego’s goalie Gavin McCarthy, who made 32 saves on 36 shots in the win.
The Green Knights kept the offensive pressure on, which led to another goal six minutes later by Calvin Hanson, giving St. Norbert the lead back.
However, with 11 minutes left in the second period, the Lakers would come back once again as Vassallo got his second of the game on another fast break past a flat-footed Knights defenseman, putting on a nice forehand-to-backhand deke before roofing a top-shelf short-side shot past Green Knight’s goalie Hunter Garvey to tie the game at three. Three minutes later, newcomer Austin Borggard sniped his first goal as a Laker, giving Oswego a 4-3 lead heading into the third period.
Whitelaw acknowledged the back-and-forth action was not ideal but boasted about his players’ mentality, overcoming multiple deficits.
“That game was kind of a roller coaster, with the way goals were going in,” Whitelaw said. “But I don’t think the guys wavered at any time and just stayed the course and stuck to our plan.”
Ryan Burke extended the Laker lead on a one-handed tip right in front of the net off a shot from Vassallo just after time expired on the power play in the opening minutes of the third period. Neither team would convert on the power play in eight combined attempts.
Although the crowd was much quieter than before, St. Norbert still kept the offensive pressure and physicality on an undersized Laker team; the plan partially worked. Gustav Portillo scored midway through the final period to cut the deficit to one. However, the Lakers defense stood tall in the closing minutes to secure the 5-4 win even as the Green Knights outshot them 10-7 in the final frame.
Even after his first win, Whitelaw was already focused on Saturday’s rematch.
“It is gonna be a huge game tomorrow; this was a big night for them and their community, so obviously they want to find a way to redeem themselves,” Whitelaw said. “They’ll make changes and we’ll make changes and we just gotta answer the bell and deliver on that same team effort we had tonight.”
The Lakers will have a really good chance to move up in the national polls and the NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings early on in the season if they win another bout with the Green Knights Saturday afternoon.
Cameron Shutts
Cameron is the Treasurer, Assistant Sports Editor, and Student Association Senator representing The Oswegonian. He is majoring in journalism with a minor in political science.