The nationally-ranked Oswego State men`s ice hockey team never trailed on Saturday night and defeated No. 8 Utica College 5-3 in a battle of top ten teams at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.
Oswego's win comes in the form of a rematch as these two teams recently faced off in the PathFinder Bank/Oswego State Hockey Classic last week. The Lakers and Pioneers tied 2-2 in that contest, with Oswego earning the championship with a 2-1 shootout win. With the win, Oswego improves to 9-2-2 on the season.
In the first period, Oswego was the first to strike, take advantage of a power-play at 8:17. Mike Montagna notched the goal on an assist from Matt Galati.
Montagna was named the Most Valuable Player of the PathFinder Bank Classic last weekend after the Lakers championship win.
The Pioneers knotted up the score a little over eight minutes later but Oswego would not go to the intermission without an advantage. Just 17 second later, Brandon Adams scored his sixth goal of the season in unassisted fashion to give the Lakers a 2-1 edge headed to the break.
At 13:22 in the second period, Oswego grew its lead to two goals with another power-play score, this time from Dylan Smith. Chris Carr and Mac Scott earned assists on the tally helping give the Lakers a 3-1 lead.
Utica used a short-handed goal at 15:29 to again cut the Oswego lead to just one goal at 3-2. The two teams played a scoreless final 4:30 of the second period to send the game to the final period with the same score.
Oswego would stretch its lead all the way to 5-2 with two goals in the third. Kenny Neil scored the first insurance goal just 3:23 into the period. The goal came off a pass from Montagna and proved to be the game-winner.
Galati then scored on a power-play after the Lakers warded off a short-handed situation of its own. His goal came at 15:38 and was assisted by Neil. Galati's goal was his team-leading 11th of the year.
Utica tallied a late goal but could not muster anything else again the Lakers.
Oswego returns to action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday as Salve Regina comes to the Campus Center Ice Arena.
