Women’s ice hockey opens season with thrilling pair of wins

Propelled by an overtime thriller and a shutout the next day, the Oswego State women’s ice hockey team opened up its regular season with a road sweep of Arcadia University.

Oswego traveled to Hatfield Ice Arena in Glenside, Pennsylvania, for a two game series against the Knights on Oct. 30-31. The Lakers secured a 2-1 overtime victory Friday before following it with a 3-0 shutout Saturday, giving the Lakers a strong start to their regular season as they out-shot Arcadia, 62-39, across both games. 

The Lakers opened their season Friday evening with a tightly contested matchup against Arcadia, coming away with a 2-1 overtime victory. Georgia Cunliffe, who played hero to open last season with a game-winning goal against VTSU-Castleon on Nov. 1, replicated her clutch abilities with the game-sealing conversion just one minute into the extra period. 

Senior captain Helen Vandamme gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead 11 minutes in, as she shoveled a rebound past opposing goalie Gabby Meger after Jenna Majewski fired a long shot on net. The Lakers carried their 1-0 lead through the first two periods while both teams continued to generate offensive opportunities.

After Meger made a plethora of impressive saves, the Knights eventually turned defense into offense when Campbell Hege broke through early into the third period. Assisted by Phoebe Roberts, the game was knotted up at one goal apiece and neither team was able to find another in regulation.

Special teams remained even through Friday’s contest, with both teams receiving two power play opportunities. Each team recorded three shots during its power plays, but neither was able to capitalize. Oswego’s ability to keep Arcadia off the scoreboard during these opportunities helped keep the game close before the overtime winner. 

Cunliffe clinched the win for Oswego with her overtime goal, crashing the net before tipping in a pass from Vandamme. The Lakers finished with 35 shots on goal compared to their opponent’s 21, keeping head coach Mark Digby satisfied with opportunities left and right.

The visitors carried their momentum into Saturday afternoon, earning a 3-0 shutout to complete the weekend sweep. The Lakers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as sophomore Natalie Loncz scored an opposite-side shot just 58 seconds into the first period.

Loncz continued her efforts into the second period, recording her second goal of the afternoon with a nifty move past Mege during a breakaway. 

Oswego maintained its two goal advantage through the remainder of the period and into the third, before Liliana Ficaro struck gold during a battle in front of the net to secure the 3-0 victory. 

Following her two goal performance Saturday, Loncz was named the SUNYAC Athlete of the Week. The New York State native earned the recognition after securing the sixth and seventh goals of her career over an eventful weekend for the Lakers, helping lead the team to their first 2-0 start since 2024.

Led by head coach Mark Digby, Oswego State received two polls in the latest USCHO women’s ice hockey Division-III poll. The Lakers will look to carry that national prowess into their home opener against the Utica Pioneers – who come off a split to start their season – on Friday, Nov. 6 at 3 p.m.