The nationally-ranked and top-seeded Oswego State men's ice hockey team dropped its third-straight game with a 3-1 loss to No. 5 Fredonia in a SUNYAC Championship semifinal matchup on Saturday night in the Marano Campus Center Arena. With the defeat, the Lakers move to 18-6-2 on the year while the Blue Devils improve to 13-10-4.
Fredonia will head to No. 2 Geneseo next Saturday for the title game while the Lakers await its fate at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, March 5 during the NCAA Championship selection show.
Oswego's unfortunate streak continued on Saturday as Fredonia secured all it would need in the first period. A Laker turnover in their offensive zone led to a rush as two Blue Devils shared the puck back-and-forth. A missed shot way to the right played to Fredonia's favor as it bounced off the boards and behind Laker goaltender David Richer. Fredonia's Josh Biasillo was able to barely nudge the puck past the line as Richer tried to cover.
Just 11 seconds later, Fredonia found luck again as a questionable goal call was upheld. The Blue Devils' Jacob Haynes was able to knock an airborne pass coming from behind the Laker net past Richer. After a long discussion between all the referees, linesmen and a goal judge, it was deemed to not be a hand pass nor a high stick for Fredonia's second goal.
Fredonia's final goal came at 17:16 of the middle period as it again capitalized on a Laker miscue. An errant pass by an Oswego defender trying to clear the zone was intercepted by Kyle Jelinski. Jelinski sniped a shot from the top of the faceoff circle to close out the Blue Devil scoring for the night.
Oswego's lone goal came early in the finial stanza on the power-play. An elbowing call against the Blue Devils made way for a Mitch Emerson goal. Max Novick swung the puck from the point to the near-side to Mitch Herlihey. The senior found Emerson just below the red line behind the net and the sophomore went right at the goalie to stuff it home.
A bounce refused to go Oswego's way most of the night however, as it beat the goalie on four separate occasions but caught the post or crossbar each time. Rather than deflect to the back of the goal, each found its way back into play, stunning the Laker faithful.
The Lakers dominated statistically, outshooting the Blue Devils 72-25 – including 34-16 in on-target attempts. Oswego also held a 43-22 advantage in the faceoff circle and took two less penalties than its counterpart. The Lakers were 1-for-5 on the power play while the penalty-kill unit was perfect, holding the Blue Devils scoreless on three chances.
Richer finished with 13 saves between the pipes.
