Oswego Men Cap off North Country Trip with Win and Tie

The Oswego State Men's hockey team completed the trip to north country this past weekend with a win and a tie against Plattsburgh and Potsdam. It started with Friday with the renewal of one of the greatest rivalries in all of Hockey......Oswego vs Plattsburgh. Before a sellout crowd of 2288 fans, Oswego got on the board first when Jon Whitelaw buried his 5th of the season at the 9:16 mark of the 1st off a great feed from Paul Rodrigues. Paul Puglisi tied the game for the Cardnials with his first of the year at the 1:15 mark of the 2nd period. Oswego would get a quick response to retake a 2-1 lead thanks to the third of the year from Chris Ayotte at the 6:06 mark. But the lead would not hold as Alex Jensen scored his 2nd of the year at the 7:21 mark of the period to tie it at 2. That was all for pucks finding the back of the net on this night.

Both teams had plenty of quality scoring chances throughout the game and espically for Oswego in overtime when they had a powerplay, but they were unable to convert. Andrew Hare made 35 saves for Oswego allowing only the 2 goals. As for Plattsburgh, Mathieu Cadieux stopped 34 shots allowing only 2 goals. Plattsburgh had one powerplay and Oswego had two but neither club was able to convert. The last time these two teams played to a tie was on December 2nd 2007 at Stafford and that game ended in a 5-5 tie. The last two meetings between these two clubs that required overtime were both back in the 07-08 season and were both Plattsburgh victories. Here now are the video highlights for Friday night:





That was friday. Now lets look at Saturday against Potsdam. This one also proved to be a bit of a challenge for the Lakers but they managed to skate away with a 6-4 victory. Jon Whitelaw got Oswego on the board first with his 6th of the season and 2nd goal in as many nights at the 4:37 mark. The lead was stretched to 2-0 at the 7:08 mark thanks to Taylor Farris 2nd of the year. Potsdam got on the board at the 9:40 mark thanks to a powerplay goal from Trevor Cope. Oz would again up the lead to 3-1 thanks to a powerplay goal from Jesse McConney his 4th of the year at the 14:42 mark.

To the 2nd period we go and Potsdam scored at 10:46 to cut the lead to 3-2 thanks to the goal from Max Fogel. Then at 14:56 Trevor Cope scored for the Bears to tie the game at 3. The lead would not last however as Tyler Leimbrock ripped home his 4th of the year at the 16:11 mark. Leimbrock would score his 2nd of the night and 5th of the year at the 15:03 mark of the 3rd period to give Oz the 5-3 lead. Potsdam would cut the lead again to 5-4 thanks to Erick Ware on the powerplay at 16:07. Oswego would ice the game and take a 6-4 lead thanks to chris Muise 3rd of the year into an empty net at 19:25.

For the game Potsdam went 2 for 4 on the powerplay while Oswego went 1 for 4 on the man advantage. Dan Jones started the game for Osweo allowing 3 goals and making 12 saves. Andrew Hare finished the game for Oz making 11 saves allowing only 1 goal. Dylan Ellis made 46 saves and allowed 6 goals in net for Potsdam. Here are the video highlights:



So after this weekends road trip, Oswego remains at #2 in the USCHO national coaches polls. Jon Whitelaw leads Oswego in Goals with 6 and is tied with Paul Rodrigues for the lead in points with 17. Rodrigues leads the team in assists with 12. Ian Boots (4 goals 8 assists 12 points), Luke Moodie (5 goals 6 assists 11 points) and Zach Josepher (1 goal 9 assists 10 points) are the other Lakers in double digits in points. Oswego closes out the first half of the season this Saturday December 10 against the Hobart Statesman.


(Video Highlights provided by Michael Keeley)