History has been made this past Saturday when the Oswego Sate Women's Hockey Team not only hosted their first ever playoff game but won their first ever playoff game witha 3-0 victory over Neumann. Last year if you remember, Neumann knocked Oswego State out of the ECAC West Tournment in a double-overtime 2-1 win. The following recap of last saturday's win is provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department.
The Oswego State women's ice hockey team (11-13-2) posted the program's first-ever playoff win against Neumann University (9-13-2) in a 3-0 shutout at the Campus Center Arena Saturday afternoon. Bridget Smith played phenomenally, stopping 18 shots, while Mackenzie Lee had a hand in all three Laker goals with assists.
The first period was fairly uneventful, as the teams traded the puck back and forth. However, it was not until 0.6 seconds remained on the clock that Kelly Collins put the Lakers ahead 1-0 on a power-play goal. She scored on a rebound after initial shots by Carly Henderson and Lee.
Melissa Seamont extended the Laker lead just 4:44 in the second with the team's second power-play goal. The goal was assisted by Carly Marchment and Lee. Two minutes later, Seamont found Lee behind the net and she passed it out to Megan Howe, who scored the Lakers' third and final goal of the afternoon, at the near faceoff circle.
The power-play and penalty-kill units were Oswego State's strengths in the contest, as it fought off all four of Neumann's power-play opportunities.
Late in the third with 1:13 remaining, Neumann pulled its goalie, Shannon Donnelly, from the net. She went back in with 54.6 seconds remaining. The Knights took a late timeout and Donnelly came out again with 45 seconds to go. However, Oswego State was able to preserve the shutout. Donnelly saved a total of 31 shots on goal.
There were many bright spots from the victory last weekend. First off, Mackenzie Lee getting an assist on all three goals shows that she isn't just a scoring machine, it shows she an all around playmaker. Second, the fact that Kelly Collins scored the game winner with .6 seconds left on the clock really shook Neuman. The Knights and Lakers played a back and forth game and the Lakers grabbed momentum with that goal and didn't let up from there. The biggest thing that stood out was the way both teams played. All three times these two clubs met was at the Campus Center in Oswego, and the Lakers won all three games, teh two in the regular season adn the biggest one in the playoffs. This was a HUGE step forward for this Oswego State Program who has started to really become a force in ECAC West play the last two seasons. And the ride for this season isn't over just yet.
The Lakers will face Plattsburgh in the ECAC West Semifinal round on Saturday, March 3 in Rochester, N.Y. at Ritter Arena. Puck drop is slated for 5PM, which makes things really interesting in that the Oswego State Men host Plattsburgh back in Oswego at 7. So its a full day of Oswego Plattsburgh hockey!
No comments:
Post a Comment