The top-seeded and nationally second-ranked Oswego State men's ice hockey team posted a convincing 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded and national-No. 13/14 Buffalo State in the SUNYAC Championship semifinal on Saturday night in the Marano Campus Center Arena. With the win, Oswego advances to the title game at 7 p.m. next Saturday and will host No. 2 and archrival Plattsburgh – who defeated No. 3 Geneseo 5-2 on Saturday night.
After neither team found the back of the net in the first period, Oswego broke into the scoring column with a Kenny Neil goal at 5:37 of the second. Buffalo State answered right back, knotting the tilt at 1-1 just 1:49 later. Before the final intermission, the Lakers regained the lead with a Shawn Hulshof power-play goal. It was an advantage the squad would never relinquish as it strung together five-straight goals to own a 6-1 margin before the Bengals added a late extra-man score.
Hulshof finished with two goals and an assist for a game-high three points. The Lakers had five players tied with two points; Mitchell Herlihey, Alex Botten and Neil each had a goal and an assist while Chris Raguseo and Matt Galati had two helpers apiece. Also recording points on the night were Chris Waterstreet (goal), Joey Davies (assist) and Cameron Berry (assist).
In goal, Matt Zawadzki went the full 60 minutes, stopping 25 Bengal shots to improve to 9-2-1 on the year.
As a team, the Lakers outshot Buffalo State 42-27 and won 10 more faceoffs (38-28).
Tickets for the SUNYAC Championship title game will be available to the general public at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Students of SUNYAC-member institutions will be able to get one complimentary ticket beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday. Tickets are available at the Marano Campus Center Box Office, by phone at 315-312-3073 or online at tickets.oswego.edu. Box office hours are 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Monday-Friday and 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on game day (Saturday).
