The nationally-ranked and second-seeded Oswego State men's ice hockey team added a chapter to the rivalry with No. 3 Plattsburgh as it was victorious in a SUNYAC Championship semifinal on Saturday night.
Oswego advances to the title game at 7 p.m. next Saturday at top-seeded Geneseo's Ira S. Wilson Arena. For information on tickets for the championship, see the final section of this recap.
THE BASICS
- Result: Oswego 3, Plattsburgh 2
- Location: Marano Campus Center Arena – Oswego, N.Y.
- Records: Oswego 19-5-2 | Plattsburgh 13-12-2
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Jody Sullivan made the best of a tough situation, as Oswego was down a man due to a trip just over six minutes into the contest.
- A little more than a minute into the penalty kill, Sullivan was able to steal a puck for a one-on-none situation, scoring the game's first tally while being hooked from behind. Not only did Sullivan beat the Cardinal goalie, he turned the tides to a 4-on-4 and eventual power-play opportunity for the Lakers.
- The shorthanded goal is Oswego's ninth of the season, giving it sole possession of second place for the most goals of that variety in all of Division III.
- Oswego was not done on special teams in the opening period, killing off a few more penalties before notching an extra-man tally.
- Less than a minute into Plattsburgh serving a holding penalty, Travis Broughman was able to pull the puck from a scrum and find Josh Zizek for a wide-open score. Michael Gillespie was also credited with an assist on the Lakers' second goal of the night.
- Plattsburgh made it a one-goal tilt in the middle period but Oswego came out in the third and pushed it back to two off a Joseph Molinaro score. The even-strength goal came off helpers from Anthony Passero and Derek Brown.
- The Lakers were poised to make it a three-goal margin just seconds later when Gillespie rifled a shot from the right side but it nicked the Cardinal goalie's shoulder, ricocheted off the crossbar and back into play.
- Plattsburgh did not let the luck go to waste, taking the ricocheted puck down to its offensive end and scoring to make it a one-goal Laker lead once again.
- The game would remain that way through the final horn, as Oswego withstood the final 1:26 of an extra Cardinal skater when Plattsburgh chose to pull its netminder.
- Laker goalie David Richer made 23 saves in the triumph, the power-play unit scored once on three chances and the penalty-kill squad stopped four of Plattsburgh's five opportunities.
TICKET INFO
The Marano Center Box Office will be open on Sunday from 11am - 2pm for sales to the SUNYAC Championship game. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for youth and SUNY Oswego students get one free ticket. Customers are limited to two tickets per person. There will not be any online or phone sales. Oswego State has a limited pre-sale allotment.
Tickets will also go on sale at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Geneseo Box Office.
