Outscoring the host Yeti 7-1 in the second half, the Oswego River Hawks stormed back for a 12-10 win at Utica’s Nexus Center on Friday night.
The victory raises their overall record to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the NABLL’s Upstate Division.
The Yeti jumped out to an early lead, scoring twice in the first minute of the game, but Oswego’s Shane Cook scored an unassisted goal in the second minute of play to start the River Hawks’ offense. The Yeti attack continued, resulting in three straight goals, but the River Hawks tallied twice on goals by Will Hardy and Evan Kistner (G. Ray Bodley HS/SUNY Morrisville) to keep the visitors in the game.
The second quarter saw the Yeti outscore Oswego by a 4-2 count, with River Hawks goals coming from Luke Hoskin and Evan Grobsmith. The Yeti led 9-6 at halftime.
The River Hawks got third quarter goals from Hardy, Kistner, and Chris Deisenroth, while goalie Connor Waller allowed just one goal. The Yeti clung to a 10-8 lead.
The fourth quarter was all Oswego, as Hardy scored his third goal of the night, assisted by Jack Rice (Oswego HS/College of Saint Rose). With just over seven minutes to play, Lukas Kucera scored his first goal of the year to tie the game at 10, assisted by Hardy. About four to minutes later, the River Hawks finally earned their first lead of the night when Carson Colucci (Oswego HS/SUNY Brockport) made a solo effort on transition, dove as he was fouled by a Yeti defender, and scored the go-ahead marker. The Yeti pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker after that, but Waller and his defense held their ground. With seconds to go, Colucci scooped up a loose ball in front of his own net and attempted a rink-long shot at the empty goal. His shot missed, but as Yeti goalie Pat Crosby scrambled to get back in the net, Oswego’s Brian Witmer (Oswego HS/SUNY Brockport/TJ Sokol Zbraslav) picked up the rebound around mid-field and went in alone on the Yeti netminder, scoring on the breakaway with three seconds remaining on the clock.
River Hawks’ goalie Waller recorded 44 saves for the win, allowing just one goal in the second half, while Hardy led all Oswego scorers (3-1). Other scorers for the River Hawks were Kistner (2-0), Kucera (1-1), Witmer (1-1), Deisenroth (1-0), Cook (1-0), Hoskin (1-0), Grobsmith (1-0), and Colucci (1-0). Rice and Owen Spearing picked up one assist each.
Yeti goalie Patrick Crosby recorded 41 saves. Yeti scoring came from Gale Thorpe (3-2), Ryan Wheeler (2-1), Blaine Stottlar (2-0), Neal Powless (1-1), Nick Kieffer (0-2), Chris Ryan (1-0), Brian Conzola (1-0), Jimmy Fey (0-1), Jesse DeMase (0-1), and Aaron Coleman (0-1).
The River Hawks return to action next weekend with two games. They’ll travel north to play the Thousand Islands Spirits in Alex Bay on Saturday at 8 PM, and then make a trip down to Geneva to play an exhibition game against the Seneca Lake Serpents on Sunday after noon (3 PM).
Oswego’s next home game is set for Friday, July 21 when they host the Salt City Eels in a 7:30 start.
