Oswego is in WNY for a pair of SUNYAC Contests

The top ranked team in all of D-III Men's Ice Hockey makes a return to the ice tonight as the Oswego State Lakers make the trip to snowy Western New York for a showdown with the Buffalo State Bengals at the Buff State Ice Arena on Friday night. On Saturday, Oswego travels to Fredonia to take on the Blue Devils at Steele Hall.



The Oswego State Lakers are coming in as the top team in the land according to the latest USCHO D-III Poll. Oswego (15-2-0, 8-0-0)  is on a three game winning streak, including two shutouts by goalies Andrew Hare and Dan Jones. The Lakers potent offense is led by Junior transfer Ian Boots with 22 points (9 G 13 A), Sophomore Luke Moodie with 19 points (10 G 9 A) and Senior Justin Fox also with 19 points (8 G 11 A).

As already mentioned, the goaltenders for Ed Gosek's squad have been hot lately as they put back to back shutouts between the pipes. Dan Jones (3-1-0) comes into the weekend with a Goals Against Average (GAA) of 1.68 with a save percentage of .944 Andrew Hare picked up his first win as a Laker since transferring in from Niagara University and Hare (1-1-0) has a save percentage of .896 and GAA of 2.76 Starting goaltender Paul Beckwith (11-0-0) may or may not be ready to go this weekend as he is coming back from an injury. Beckwith has a GAA of 1.37 and has a save percentage of .949

The Buffalo State Bengals (8-7-2, 4-2-2) are coming in after a weekend sweep of Johnson and Wales last weekend. The Bengals are led offensively by Senior Nick Petriello with 21 points ( 7 G 14 A), Sophomore Trevor McKinney with 19 points (11 G 8 A) and Sophomore forward Justin Knee with 15 points (7 G 8 A). Between the pipes, Freshman Kevin Carr has had most of the load playing 16 games for the Bengals. Carr has a record of 7-7-2 and has a GAA of 2.66 and has a save percentage of .924

On Saturday, the Lakers will travel to Steele Hall in Fredonia to face off against the Fredonia Blue Devils. Fredonia (8-9-0, 3-5-0) is coming off a sweep of Franklin Pierce last weekend. The Blue Devils are led by Senior forward Jordon Oye with 30 points (13 G 17 A), Junior Brian Ross with 29 points (8 G 21 A) and Senior Alex Horton with 19 points (8 G 11 A). Fredonia's netminders include three Freshmen. One of the Freshmen is Hark Friesen who has played 11 games (5-6-0) in his first season in the Southern Tier. Friesen's GAA is 2.63 and has a save percentage of .917

Oswego's WNYO-FM 88.9 will have the play by play action of both games this weekend.

Notes: top picture left - Buff State Ice Arena, right - Steele Hall Ice Arena at Fredonia

Streak's Now Up to 17 as Oswego Beats Fredonia

The No. 1-ranked Oswego State men’s ice hockey team tallied two power play goals to snap Fredonia’s eight-game winning streak by defeating the Blue Devils 3-1 on Saturday night at the Campus Center Arena in Oswego. Jon Whitelaw and Stephen Mallaro recorded both power play goals for the Lakers, while Kyle Gunn-Taylor stopped 17 shots to remain undefeated at 12-0-0. Oswego State extended its own winning streak to 17 games to improve to 18-1-0 overall and 10-0-0 in the SUNYAC. Fredonia fell to 14-5-0 and 6-4-0 in the league.

Scoring started in the second period after a Fredonia boarding penalty led to a goal by Jon Whitelaw (Fr., Huntsville, Ont.) at 7:58. Whitelaw took a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that went into the right side of the net after receiving a pass from Chris Laganiere (Jr., Owego, N.Y.). It was the only goal of the stanza, as Oswego State skated into the third period with a 1-0 lead.

The Lakers took a two-goal advantage following another boarding penalty at 1:22 in the third period when Stephen Mallaro (Jr., Syracuse, N.Y.) blasted a shot that bounced off the left pipe into the net. Andrew Mather (So., Ottawa, Ont.) and Whitelaw received the assists on the play. Minutes later while on a 3-on-2 breakaway, Eric Selleck’s (So., Spencerville, Ont.) wrist shot beat Kody Van Rentergem glove-side to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead as Mallaro and Laganiere earned assists.

Fredonia ended the shutout bid at 6:33 when Bryan Ross’s slapshot from the center of the blue found the back of the net as the Blue Devils had a 4-on-3 chance. The goal was also the first power play goal allowed by Oswego State in 2010 (29 opportunities). Fredonia continued to pressure the Lakers, but was unable to put more goals on the scoreboard.

Gunn-Taylor made seven of his 13 saves in the third period, while Blue Devil netminder Kody Van Rentergem stopped 25 shots, including 15 in the first period.

Next weekend Oswego State will host Potsdam and Plattsburgh as part of the annual White-Out Weekend. Both games start at 7 p.m. with the first 2,000 fans at each game receiving white towels to help show their support.

Courtesy of Oswego State Sports Information Department