The nationally-ranked Oswego State men`s ice hockey team dropped a close 3-2 decision to No. 12 Geneseo on Friday night in the Campus Center Ice Arena. Oswego's loss lowers its season mark to 15-5-2 and 8-5-1 in the SUNYAC standings while the Knights improve to 17-5-0, 11-2-0.
The Lakers got off to a great start as Chris Waterstreet blasted a goal past the Geneseo goalie at 6:33. Waterstreet's goal was assisted by Morgan Bonner.
Geneseo then scored three-straight goals to head to the first intermission with a 3-1 lead. The Knights took advantage of a penalty on the Lakers for their first goal, as Zachary Vit scored the power-play goal at 8:07 to knot the score at 1-1. Geneseo's next goal came just 23 seconds later at even strength as Matt Solomon scored the go-ahead tally.
With under a minute to play in the opening period, Geneseo found some luck to capture its third goal. Justin Gilbert and David Ripple fought for a puck that bounced around the ice and up in the air. An unlucky bounce occurred for Oswego, as the puck dropped behind Gilbert's leg. Gilbert tried to squeeze the puck to the post but it fell just over the line.
In the second period, Oswego seemed set for a comeback as Matt Galati scored at 3:20. Galati's goal came after Geneseo was whistled for a penalty and was assisted by Waterstreet and Bobby Gertsakis. Gertsakis found Galati to his left and put the pass on his stick. The freshman took advantage of the gap the Knights' goalie allowed to his right, firing to the back of the net before the goalie could regain his position.
Despite a few more extra-man opportunities and a myriad of scoring chances, Oswego was not able to score again. The Lakers' best chance came in the final moments of play as Kenny Neil had a quick look to goal. Once again the puck did not bounce the Laker way, as Neil's shot hit the post and ricocheted back into play.
Oswego dominated nearly every statistic on the night, outshooting Geneseo 37-24 and winning 11 more faceoffs (31-20).
The Lakers will return to action at 7 p.m. on Saturday as Brockport comes to campus. Oswego will be honoring its two seniors, David Titanic and Kyle Badham, after the game.
