The Oswego State men's ice hockey team downed Fredonia 3-2 with an overtime Alex Botten goal on Saturday night in the Marano Campus Center Arena. Oswego improves to 6-4-1 on the year but more importantly gets two points in the conference standings with its 5-3-1 SUNYAC mark. The Blue Devils fall to 3-5-2, 2-5-2 with Saturday's loss. Oswego sported teal jerseys in the game to raise awareness of ovarian cancer during the team's annual Teal Gate events.
Tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, Oswego carried 1:42 of a power-play into the overtime. Less than a minute into the period, Matt Galati corralled the puck on the near boards and passed to Shawn Hulshof behind the Fredonia net. Hulshof sent a perfectly placed centering pass right to the top of the crease, hitting Botten who slapped it home for the extra-man, game-winner.
After leading early, Oswego found itself trailing 2-1 heading into the final period. Brandon Adams found Stephen Johnson out in front of the far faceoff circle and Johnson guided a shot between two Blue Devil defenders for the equalizer. Chris Waterstreet was in on the play, initially finding Adams to earn a secondary assist on the tally.
Hulshof was the first for bother teams to break onto the scoreboard, notching a goal at 1:33 of the middle period. Mitchell Herlihey and Andrew Barton each garnered assists on the play, helping the Lakers to a 1-0 edge.
The Oswego penalty-kill unit was perfect on the night, hold Fredonia off the board on three attempts, two of which came with the game tied in the final 20 minutes. Oswego dominated on the shot category, taking 30 more attempts than Fredonia (50-20). The Lakers also owned the faceoff dot, winning six more draws (34-28).
Adrian Ignagni got a second-straight win in net for the Lakers, making 18 saves in the tilt.
Oswego will now wait until the new year for its next contest when it hosts Adrian College, Castleton University and Williams College in the Pathfinder Bank Hockey Classic on Jan. 2-3.
