As is tradition with Oswego, the season started off with an exhibition game, this time the opponent was the US Under 18 team. Oswego had lost in overtime to this same team four years ago, but this time around it was a different story as the Under 18 team skated away with a 2-0 win. Oswego kicked off the regular season with a two game homestand against Cortland and Elmira. Cortland was up first for Oswego and the Lakers stumbled out of the blocks but were able to recover and come away with a 7-4 victory. Andrew Hare gave up two quick goals and was given the hook in exchange for Dan Jones. The Laker offense took off after that scoring five unanswered goals in route to the win. Paul Rodrigues (two assists), Jon Whitelaw (goal two assists), Chris Ayotte (goal two assists), and Luke Moodie (goal two assists) all had big offensive nights. The next night the Soaring Eagles of Elmira came into town, and felt the wrath of an enraged Oswego team, to the tune of a 9-0 Oswego victory. Andrew Hare bounced back from the rough outing the night before with the 26 save shutout. Chris Muise (two assists), Jesse McConney (two assists), Zach Josepher (three assists) and Tyler Leimbrock (two goals) all had great nights, but they don't compare to the monster nights had by both Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie. Both guys put up five point nights, Moodie did it with two goals and three assists but Paul Rodrigues outdid him with four goals and an assist.
So after the brief homestand, the Lakers took their act on the road for a three game swing to start off November. The trip started with a two game visit to Brockport and Geneseo. First up was Brockport, and Andrew Hare kept up his hot goaltending by pitching his 2nd straight shutout in a 2-0 Laker win. Hare made 20 saves in the win and Zach Josepher and Luke Moodie provided the scoring punch in the victory. Next up was a trip to Geneseo, and to a lot of people's surprise this wasn't as tight checking a game as the night before. This game was an offensive explosion as Oswego walked away with a 10-1 win. Hare got the start again and allowed 1 goal on 27 shots, while the offense had ten different goal scorers in this hockey game. Paul Rodrigues (goal two assists), Jesse McConney (three assists), Tim Carr (goal assist), Chris Brown (goal two assists), Bobby Gertsakis (two assists), David Titanic (goal assist), Chris Muise (three assists), Luke Moodie (two assists), and Matt Singelton (two assists) each had multi-point games. Taylor Farris was the only Laker skater who didn't register a point. Oswego finished up the three game road trip with a 5-1 win over Morrisville on November 9th. A few guys had multi-point nights on that night, but the big story of the game was Luke Moodie, who's 2nd period powerplay goal made him the 49th member of the Oswego State 100 point club.
Oswego returned home for the start of a five game homestand right before thanksgiving with a visit from Buffalo State and Fredonia. Buffalo State came in first and gave Oswego a giant scare, jumping out t a quick 2-0 but the Lakers would rally back to come away with a narrow 5-4 win. The big story on the night was Paul Rodrigues 3rd period goal, as it gave him 100 career points helping him become the 50th member of the Oswego State 100 point club. So after the Buffalo State scare, Oswego had the Blue Devils of Fredonia come to town, but this game wasn't as much of a scare as Oswego skated away with a 7-1 win heading into thanksgiving. Once again Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie had huge games offensively, Rodrigues posted a six point night on a goal and five assists, while Luke Moodie threw in a hat trick to go along with two assists for a five point night.
So the team returned from thanksgiving break for one final home game in November against the Potsdam Bears, and it looked like the boys didn't skip a beat, blowing out the Bears 6-0. Andrew Hare made 330 saves in the shutout, and Eli Kim-Swallow connected for his first two goals of the year. Zach Josepher (goal two assists), Chris Carr (goal assist), Chris Muise (two assists), and Jesse McConney (two assists) also had big offensive nights. This would be the last regulation win for Oswego during the first half of the season. Once the calender switched to December, things took a slight downhill turn. The first opponent in the new month was arch rival Plattsburgh in the annual Whiteout game, and for the first time in three years Plattsburgh was able to come away with a regular season win in Oswego, skating away with a 2-1 win. Chris Muise scored the only Oswego goal in the first loss of the year for the Lakers. The final home game of the first half saw the Utica Pioneers come to town and for the 2nd straight game, Oswego fell, this time by a 3-2 score. The Lakers needed to find a way to break out of the two game loosing skid, as they took their act on the road for the final time in the first half. The destination was Geneva New York and the opponent was Hobart. Oswego jumped out to a 2-0 lead but they weren't able to hold it as Hobart was able to tie the game at the end of regulation. In need of a hero the game went to overtime, and with 16.6 seconds left Chris Brown stepped up and scored the winner, giving the Lakers a 3-2 victory to close out the first half of the year.
So with all that said and done, Oswego finished the first half of the year with a 9-2-0 record overall, and a 7-1-0 record overall in SUNYAC play. This record is good enough to have Oswego as the #2 ranked team in the entire country. The big story is that the team has been able to do this without the play of team captain Jon Whitelaw who has missed time due to an ankle injury. Leading the team in scoring all year has been his two linemates Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie. Moodie leads the team in goals with ten and is second in assists (10) and points (20), meanwhile Paul Rodrigues leas the team with 15 assists and 24 points to go along with six goals.
The team has seen a lot in the first half of the season, a two game losing streak, a overtime hero, an eight game winning streak, three shutouts, two members of the 100 point club, a hat trick and a four point game. If this first half of the year was any indication, the second half is going to be just as much fun!
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