The No. 1-ranked Oswego State men’s ice hockey team defeated fourth-ranked Plattsburgh 3-2 on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd for the program’s first victory over the Cardinals at the Campus Center Arena. Jon Whitelaw (Fr., Huntsville, Ont.) tallied the eventual game-winning goal at 5:53 in the second period. The Lakers took a five-point lead over Plattsburgh in the SUNYAC standings with a 12-0-0 record and moved to 20-1-0 on the season, while the Cardinals fell to 13-3-4 overall and 9-2-1.
Oswego State raced out of the gates early as Neil Musselwhite (Sr., Burlington, Ont.) gave the Lakers an early 1-0 lead 34 seconds into the contest. Tyler Leimbrock (Fr., Bolton, Ont.) carried the puck up the right side before putting a wrist shot on net. Plattsburgh goaltender Josh Leis (Fr., Kitchener, Ont.) gave up the rebound, as Musselwhite took advantage putting the puck in the top-left corner. Leimbrock and Brad Dormiedy (Sr., Ajax, Ont.) were credited with assists on the play. The Cardinals evened the game at the 6:44 mark when Dylan Clarke (Jr., Belleville, Ont.) scored on a scramble in front of the net. However, the Lakers regained the lead at 11:36 when they took advantage of a failed Plattsburgh clearing attempt. Eric Selleck (So., Spencerville, Ont.) picked up the puck, closed in on the right side forcing Leis to commit before passing to Justin Fox (Jr., Whitby, Ont.), who did not miss, for his 11th goal of the year. The score remained at 2-1 at the first intermission.
Between periods, an odd string of events occurred when equipment malfunction in the Oswego State skate room resulting in the fire alarms going off, forcing the crowd to be evacuate the building. Play was delayed slightly as the situation was cleared by the appropriate officials.
Once the players returned to the ice, Jon Whitelaw made it a two-goal game 5:53 into the second period. He carried the puck up the left side of the rink before ripping a shot that went between Leis’ legs to make the score 3-1. Fox earned an assist on the goal, as Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery pulled Leis, replacing him with Ryan Williams. The Cardinals turned up the intensity for the rest of the period as the Lakers committed several penalties giving Plattsburgh a chance to get back into the game. However, a combination of strong penalty killing and nice saves by Kyle Gunn-Taylor (Sr., West Seneca, N.Y.) kept the Cardinals from getting back on the board.
Oswego State had a chance to go up by three goals when Matt Singleton (Fr., Brooklin, Ont.) was awarded a penalty shot after being taken down on a breakaway, but Williams came up with the stick save. Plattsburgh notched its second goal of the game minutes later when Phil Farrow threw the shot on goal that went above Gunn-Taylor’s glove to make the score 3-2, which was the final score.
Kyle Gunn-Taylor recorded 27 saves as he improved to 13-0-0 on the season. Josh Leis made nine saves, while Ryan Williams stopped 12 shots in relief.
The Lakers will host their final regular season game of the year on Friday night against Cortland at 7 p.m. for senior night. Oswego State now needs to claim three points in its final four games to capture the top seed in the SUNYAC Post-Season Tournament.
Provided by Oswego State Sports Information
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