The No. 4/4 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team defeated No. 7 Geneseo, 4-2, in a thriller at home on Friday night. Mitch Herlihey led the way with two goals, earning a spot in the Oswego history books by becoming the 56th player in program history with 100 career points.
With the victory, the Lakers improve to 17-3-2 on the season and remain unbeaten at 12-0-1 in SUNYAC play, while Geneseo falls to 15-5-3 overall and 8-3-3 in conference action. The win also secures the top seed in the SUNYAC for the Lakers.
Oswego dominated offensively the first period. A little over 4:30 into the first period, AJ D’Orazio put the Lakers on the scoreboard, deflecting a pass into the Geneseo net. Sophomores Mitch Emerson and Aaron Huffnagle each earned assists on the goal.
Less than two minutes later, the Lakers tacked on another goal. Skating out from behind the net, Josh Zizek sent the puck to Mitch Herlihey, who slapped it past the diving Knight goalie up into the left corner of the goal. Zizek collected his team-leading 17th assist on the season, while Michael Gillespie notched his 12th. The goal put Herlihey at 99 points (from 36 goals and 63 assists) in his career.
With just under five minutes left in the first period, Oswego added on its third goal, capitalizing on a power-play. Cameron Berry and Emerson teamed up in front of the Knight net, with Berry ultimately stuffing the puck past the Geneseo goalie. Emerson picked up his second assist of the game on the goal, while defenseman Chris MacMillan recorded his third of the season.
Geneseo managed to score two goals in the third period, but the Lakers added an insurance goal with 19 seconds left left. Herlihey earned his 100th career point with an empty netter from center ice, bringing the final score to 4-2.
David Richer played all 60 minutes in the net, making 21 saves for Oswego. Richer and the Lakers killed all five of their penalties on the night.
The Lakers return to action at 7 p.m. on Saturday as they travel to Brockport, N.Y. to face the Golden Eagles. It will be Oswego’s final away game of the regular season.
