Oswego Downs Buffalo State, WIll Host SUNYAC Championship

After struggling last weekend against the Plattsburgh State Cardinals, the Oswego State Men's Hockey team looked to rebound at home against the Buffalo State Bengals in the 2nd round of the SUNYAC Tournament. Oswego has yet to lose to Buffalo State in the history of the program. That trend would continue as Oswego State was able to advance in the tournament, beating the Bengals 5-2 in pretty convincing fashion.

Buffalo State would actually jump out on top thanks to a goal from Mike Zannella, his 16th of the year, at the 10:05 mark of the opening period. Oswego would respond in kind with a pair of goals before the end of the period. First it was Luke Moodie with his 20th of the year at the 15:28 mark to tie the game. Less than a minute later, at the 16:21 mark, David Titanic scored his 10th of the season to give Oswego a 2-1 lead they would carry into the locker rooms at the end of the period.

The middle period of this contest proved to be a chippy one as a total of seven penalties were called, three on Oswego and four on Buffalo State. Oswego would take advantage of the chippy play and come away with a pair of goals both coming of the stick of Chris Muise. Muise's first goal, and his 8th of the season, came unassisted at the 16:32 mark, while his 2nd of the night, and 9th of the year, came on a powerplay at the 18:42 mark. Oswego now carried a 4-1 lead heading into the 2nd intermission.

It took Buffalo State only 1:18 into the final period to cut the Oswego lead to 4-2. That's when Todd Graham scored his 2nd of the year, and it turned the heat up just a bit on the Lakers. Oswego and goalie Andrew Hare would hold the fort down. Oswego would seal the game at the 18:42 mark when David Titanic scored his 2nd of the game, and 11th of the year into an empty net and cap off the 5-2 Oswego victory.

Oswego outshot Buffalo State 41-35 for the game in picking up the victory. Kevin Carr, who has played almost every minute of every game for Buffalo State, took the loss, dropping his record to 13-12-2 on the year, made 36 saves in the loss. Andrew hare picked up the win for the Lakers, improving his record to 18-4-0, made 33 saves in the victory.

With the win, Oswego will get set to face arch rival Plattsburgh in the 2nd whiteout game of the season, this time with a SUNYAC Conference title and automatic bid into the NCAA Division III National Tournament on the line in Oswego this Saturday night!

A full preview of the game will be posted right here Friday afternoon to get everybody ready for that contest!

(Photo provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Season Is Over. Oswego Women's Hockey Falls to Neumann

After batteling all season long to stay in the playoff hunt and float around the 500 mark, the sun has set on a sour note for the Oswego State Women's Hockey team. For the 2nd year in a row the Lakers played host to the Neumann College Knights and for the 2nd year in a row the game ended with a 3-0 score. This time however Oswego came up on the wrong end of the score, getting shutout out and having their season come to an end.

Oswego played well, and was able to outshoot Neumann for the game 33-24 but Neumann goalie Shannon Donnelly stole the game. She stood on her head making 33 saves for the shutout and played out of her mind. Penalty trouble, which has been a slight problem for Oswego in the past, got to them again just a bit in this contest. Keira St-Laurent got Neumann on the board with her 2nd goal of the season, a powerplay goal, at the 10:53 mark of the opening period. Oswego outplayed Neumann for the first two periods, but found themselves trailing 1-0 to the Knights going into the 3rd period. Neumann would get goals from Edie Brenning, her 10th of the year at the 10:39 mark, and Megan Russelo her 6th at 14:03 to seal the victory for Neumann and move on to the next round in the ECAC West Tournament.

Shannon Donnelly picked up the win for Neumann, improving her record to 7-12-0, making 33 saves in the shutout win. Bridget Smith took the loss for Oswego, dropping her record to 10-8-1 on the year, while she made 18 saves in the loss. Freshman netminder Tori Trovato made 3 saves in the final six minutes of the hockey game that she played.

Oswego finished the regular season with a 12-12-1 record overall and 10-6-0 in ECAC West play. For a team that had taken a pretty big hit in the offseason, losing a few players that would have had big roles to play on the team, plus the loss of a few promising recruits to the program, OSwego was at a bit of a disadvantage from the outset of the year. Oswego only had 17 players on the roster this season, and the fact that they were able to not only finish the season at .500 overall and above 500 in conference play this year speaks major volumes about the players, the coaching staff, and the program as a whole.

A full season recap for the Oswego State Women's Hockey team will be posted within the next few weeks so stay tuned!

(Photo Provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

SUNYAC Semi-Finals Preview

For the first time in SUNYAC Tournament play, the Oswego State Lakers and Buffalo State Bengals will face off for the right to play for a conference championship next weekend. Oswego earned an opening round bye and home ice advantage throughout the tournament by winning the conference regular season title. Buffalo State came in as the #4 seed in conference and beat Fredonia 6-0 in the opening round of the tournament to get to this point in time. Oswego State swept the season series against Buffalo State with a 5-4 win at the Campus Center Arena in November and a 4-0 win at Buffalo two weeks ago. The Lakers own an all-time record of 32-0-4 over the Bengals. Buffalo State's most recent tie came on February 8, 2002 in a 5-5 decision at Buffalo.

Here are a few interesting nuggets about the matchup this Saturday night. Both squads have been shut out once this season. Oswego State was shut out in a 6-0 loss at Utica, while Buffalo State's lone shutout was in the 4-0 loss to the Lakers. The Bengals are 0-5-1 against the remaining SUNYAC playoff teams, Oswego State is 4-2-0. The Lakers are 6-3-0 in games decided by two goals or less, while the Bengals are 6-9-0. Oswego State is 12-2-0 at home this season and 17-1-0 when scoring the first goal. Buffalo State is 4-8-0 on the road this year and 11-3-2 when putting the first goal on the scoreboard. The Lakers are 15-0-0 when leading after the first period and 20-0-0 when leading after two frames. Oswego State likes to get out to a fast start, as it has out-scored its opponents 52-21 in the first period. Fifteen of the Lakers' 21 wins have been by three goals or more, while seven of Buffalo State's 13 wins have also been by three goals or more.

So now that we have those fun facts out of the way, lets take a closer look at how these two teams stack up. The team stats are for conference play only, and where they rank in conference. Individual stats are for the entire season.

Team Offense:
Oswego- 5.00 Goals per Game #1 in Conference
Buffalo State- 3.29 Goals per Game #4 in Conference

Team Defense:
Oswego- 1.69 Goals per Game #2 in Conference
Buffalo State- 2.82 Goals per Game #4 in Conference

Power Play:
Oswego- 21 for 91 31.87% 2nd in Conference
Buffalo State- 20 for 95 21.05% 5th in Conference

Penalty Kill:
Oswego- 60 of 70 85.7% 2nd in Conference
Buffalo State- 61 of 83 73.5% 8th in Conference

Leading Scorers:

Oswego:
Paul Rodrigues- 14 goals 27 assists 41 points
Luke Moodie- 19 goals 19 assists 38 points
Chris Muise- 7 goals 22 assists 29 points
Chris Brown- 7 goals 21 assists 28 points
Jon Whitelaw- 8 goals 19 assists 27 points
Jesse McConney- 4 goals 20 assists 24 points

Buffalo State:
Nick Melligan- 13 goals 17 assists 30 points
Mike Zannella- 15 goals 10 assists 25 points
Trevor McKinney- 12 goals 9 assists 21 points
Matt Bessing- 12 goals 7 assists 19 points
Brett Hope- 4 goals 12 assists 16 points
Anthony Orange- 1 goal 14 assists 15 points

Goaltending:

Oswego:
Andrew Hare- 17-4-0 1.81 GAA .931 SV% 5 SO
Dan Jones- 2-0-0 1.55 GAA .934 SV%
Justin Gilbert- 2-0-0 1.55 GAA ,944 SV%

Buffalo State:
Kevin Carr- 13-11-2 2.47 GAA .922 SV % 3 SO
Peter Dudek- 0-0-0 0.00 GAA 1.000 SV%

Puckdrop for this contest is set for 7PM from the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego!

(Stats provided by Oswego State Sports Information Department and USCHO.com)

ECAC West First Round Preview

The march to the NCAA Division III National Championship kicks off this weekend as the ECAC West tournament kicks off in Oswego. For the 2nd straight year the Oswego State Women's Hockey team plays host to the Neumann College Knights. This will be the third year in a row that these two clubs will be facing each other in the playoffs. In the first meeting back in 2011 Oswego fell to Neumann in Neumann by a 2-1 score in double overtime. Last year the two played again, this time in Oswego, and the Lakers came away with the firs playoff win in program history, a 3-0 victory. Saturday's game will be the playoff rubber match.

These two teams have already played twice this season, in a weekend series at Neumann back on November 17th and 18th in Neumann, with Oswego winning both games. First game was a 4-2 win, which saw the first career goals for Breanne Reith and Bailee Goodon. Oswego took the 2nd game that weekend 2-1 in overtime, with the winner being scored by Leslie Jarvis, her first career goal. Bridget Smith and Shannon Donnelly were the goalies for both of those games back in November. Oswego State owns a five-game winning streak against Neumann. Prior to the current stretch, the Lakers were 1-10-0 versus the Knights.

Now there are a few interesting nuggets about these two clubs heading into the matchup this weekend. Seven of Oswego State's 11 losses this season have been shutouts compared to Neumann posting four shutouts in its 15 losses. Neumann is 1-9-0 against ECAC West playoff teams, Oswego State is 4-6-0. The Lakers are 7-8-0 in games decided by two goals or less, while the Knights are 3-7-0. Oswego State is 8-7-0 at home this season and 8-1-0 when scoring the first goal. Neumann is 6-2-0 on the road this year and 9-3-0 when putting the first goal on the scoreboard. The Lakers are 5-0-0 when leading after the first period and 10-0-0 when leading after two frames. The Knights have been outscored 28-17 in the third period. Six of Neumann's nine wins have been by three goals or more.

So now that we have some interesting stats about the teams here is officially how these two teams stack up. The rankings listed are where they rank in conference and nationally.

Team Offense:
Oswego- 2.31 Goals per Game 4th in ECAC
Neumann- 2.00 Goals per Game 6th in ECAC

Team Defense:
Oswego- 2.06 Goals per Game 4th in ECAC
Neumann- 2.56 Goals per Game5th in ECAC

Power Play:
Oswego- 10 for 79 12.66% 4th in ECAC
Neumann- 3 of 63 4.76% 7th in ECAC

Penalty Killing:
Oswego- 64 of 72 for 88.9% 4th in ECAC
Neumann- 73 of 92 for 79.3% 8th in ECAC

Leading Scorers:

Oswego:
Melissa Seamont- 9 goals, 15 assists, 24 points
Olivia Boersen- 7 goals, 9 assists, 15 points
Megan Hagg- 5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points
Emma Smetaniuk- 5 goals, 6 assists, 11 points
Mady Paul, 7 goals, 3 assists, 10 points

Neumann:
Edie Brenning- 9 goals 10 assists 19 points
Angela Gilmour- 6 goals 10 assists 16 points
Lynsey Nakamura- 5 goals 8 assists 14 points
Shanelle Doucette- 7 goals 3 assists 10 points
Megan Russelo- 5 goals 5 assists 10 points

Goaltenders:

Oswego:
Bridget Smith- 8-5-0 2.00 GAA .925 SV% 3 SO
Tori Trovato- 2-0-0 1.59 GAA .932 SV% 1 SO

Neumann:
Shannon Donnelly- 6-9-0 2.51 GAA .921 SV% 1 SO
Justina Mayr- 0-1-0 3.03 GAA .875 SV%

Puck drop for this opening round matchup is set for 2PM from the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego!

(Stats for story provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department and USCHO.com)

End of An Era. Lindy Ruff Out as Sabres Coach

It has finally happened. After 1,165 games coached and 571 wins behind the bench, the Buffalo Sabres relieved Lindy Ruff of his duties Wednesday. Ruff was named coach on July 21, 1997, and since then, 170 coaching changes have been made around the NHL. Only Gregg Popovich, the coach of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, has been employed as a head coach longer in the four major North American professional sports (he started in 1996). The Sabres are the only team Ruff has served as coach, and he has more wins than any coach with his first NHL team. Ruff finished in Buffalo with a record of 571-432-162. He won the Jack Adams Award following the 2005-06 season. His 571 wins are second-most by a coach with a single franchise, trailing only the New York Islanders' Al Arbour (740). Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators, now the longest-tenured coach in the League, was hired two weeks after Ruff in 1997. Under Ruff, the Sabres won a Northeast Division title in 2009-10 and the Presidents' Trophy in 2006-07. They reached four Eastern Conference Finals (1998, 1999, 2006 and 2007) and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately for Ruff, the Sabres have failed to win a Stanley Cup Playoff series since 2007 and have missed the postseason in four of the past five years.

This somewhat comes as no real surprise, with the fact that the Sabres are sitting four games under 500 on the season and are in last place in the Northeast Division. Most of the players that are currently on the Buffalo roster have had Lindy as their only head coach in the NHL so its going to take some time to getting used to a new bench boss. I think the reason behind Lindy getting the Ax is the team isn't playing up to standard this season. Granted it is a lockout shortened season, but still with a team that, in the past, has normally been a good team during the regular season, just isn't at the moment. Scoring goals in Buffalo this year hasn't been a problem, its stopping the other team from scoring that has become a problem. And since it doesn't look like any of the players are going to get fired over it, the coach is usually takes the fall for it and loses his job.

Lindy Ruff had a great run as head coach of the Sabres. There is only none possible downside to his time as bench boss in Buffalo, and that is that he was never able to lead the Sabres to a Stanley Cup title. Closest he came was in 1999 when Buffalo lost to the Dallas Stars in six in the finals. Lindy has had great years coaching in Western New York, there is no denying that. The problem is though it seems that under Ruff the team has hid a bit of a skid the past few seasons, missing out on the playoffs four of the last five years.

So with Lindy Ruff now out of a job, his replacement is going to be Ron Rolston.  After spending his first ten years as a coach at the college level, Rolston has spent the past two seasons as head coach of the Rochester Americans of the AHL. He now takes over as head man in Buffalo for the remainder of the season. Ron is the older brother of former NHL player Brian Rolston.

Will the coaching change be the spark plug the Sabres need to possibly turn their season around? Only time will tell.

Blackhawks Record Tying Point Streak

With their shootout win last night over the Vancouver Canucks, the Chicago Blackhawks have tied the NHL record for the longest point-streaks to start season at 16 straight games.The Hawks are still the only team in the NHL unbeaten in regulation, with a record of 13-0-3 on the season, good enough to not only lead the Central Division, its the best record in the NHL at the moment. Chicago joins the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks as the only team to get a point in 16 straight games from the start of the season. There are a total of five teams to start a season on point streaks of more than 13 games. Those teams are the 1994-95 Pittsburgh Penguins with 13, 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens at 14, the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers at 15, the 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks at 16, and now the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks at 16. Of the other four teams listed, three have gone on to win the Stanley Cup at the end of the season (the 94-95 Penguins were the only team who failed to do so).

Chicago won their first six games of the year, two of which were in overtime. The first blip on the screen came on January 31st in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild in Minnesota. Then it was followed with another loss in a shootout, this time in Vancouver to the Canucks by a 2-1 score. Chicago then followed up with four straight wins. Then another shootout loss, this time on February 12th to the Anaheim Ducks in Anaheim. The Hawks complete the 16 game swing with three straight wins. Chicago goes for 17 in a row with a point on February 22nd at the United Center when they play host to the San Jose Sharks.

There are a number of different elements which have lead to the Hawks great play in this stretch at the start of the year. First it has been great goaltending from Cory Crawford and Ray Emery. Crawford has a goals against average of under two and Emery has one under two and a half. Both goalies have save percentages well over .920. Hawks have had stable goaltending from the get go of the season and its been a big help. Also the Hawks have had a balanced scoring attack from the start of the year. There are only two skaters on teh team who don't have a point yet and they are Sheldon Brookbank and Brandon Bollig. everybody else has at least one point. Patrick Kane leads the way with nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points. Besides Kane, the Hawks have three other guys in double digits in pints, Jonathan Towes has 15 points, Patrick Sharp has 13 points and Marian Hossa has 12 points. So as you can see Chicago has been getting contributions from everybody. Although Marian Hossa left the game early last night after taking a hit to the head late. So his status for the next game against the Sharks is unclear at the moment.

Just for the fact that the Hawks have put themselves in this position speaks volumes about the Organization. There were some question marks coming into this year but Chicago has quieted the critics and in a very big way. The real question is can the Hawks maintain this level of play all the way through the rest of the regular season and the playoffs? As good as the Hawks have been to start the year, and they are the best team in the league at the moment, they need to be able to get hot and stay hot come playoff time. If Chicago can stay healthy the rest of the way and keep up this level of play then they have great chances at playing for the Stanley Cup come June. But first things first they have to get through the rest of the regular season. With they way they have played Chicago could be well on their way to a title!

Oswego Splits North Country Trip; Lose Again to Plattsburgh

The Oswego State Men's Ice Hockey team closed out the regular season, and a four game road trip, with a swing into the North Country to take on Potsdam and Plattsburgh to end the regular season. Oswego had already locked up home ice advantage throughout the SUNYAC playoffs, with a win over Potsdam Friday night, it would lock up another regular season SUNYAC title. All time against Potsdam, Oswego is 62-24-2 heading into Friday's game, and that win total would go up by one more as Oswego dominated from start to finish, rolling to a 10-0 victory. Do not adjust anything on you're computers, you did read that correctly. Oswego rolled over Potsdam 10-0.

Oswego was rolling from the outset, scoring seven goals in the first period alone. Goal scorers in the opening period were Bobby Gertsakis, his 4th of the year, Jon Whitelaw, his 8th of the year, Zach Josepher, his 8th of the year, Chris Brown, his 7th of the year, David Titanic, his 8th of the year, Luke Moodie, his 17th of the year, and Tyler Leimbrock his 10th of the year. Oswgo had a 7-0 lead at the end of one, the most goals they had scored in one period since scoring eight against Neumann College back in 2000 in route to an 11-0 victory. Oswego would score their final three goals in the 2nd period, Matt Singelton, his 3rd of the year, Luke Moodie, his 2nd of the night and 18th of the year, and Zach Josepher, his 2nd of the night and 9th of the season. Nobody scored in the 3rd period as Oswego put it in cruse control en route to the 10-0 victory.

This was the 2nd time this season Oswego has scored ten goals in a game, the other one being a 10-1 victory over Geneseo back on November 3rd in Geneseo. Shane Talarico took the loss for Potsdam, dropping his record to 3-4-0, allowing 6 goals and making 33 saves in just under 46 minutes of work. Austin Keiser saw 14:01 of the game allowing 4 goals and making 11 saves. Andrew Hare played the first period and picked up the win, improving his record to 17-3-0, while making six saves. Dan Jones played the final 40 minutes and made 13 saves in his work in net. As far as scoring for Oswego goes, everybody except Tim Carr, Kyle Badham, and Denton King picked up at least a point.

So with the victory Friday night, Oswego locks up the #1 seed in conference and another regular season SUNYAC title, the fourth one in as many years for the Lakers.

So after easily beating Potsdam it was off to Stafford Ice Arena to play the rival Plattsburgh State Cardinals. The follow recap is provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department.

In a game that saw five combined special-team goals, it was a pair of even-strength strikes that handed the No. 2 Oswego State men's ice hockey team a 4-3 loss to No. 9 Plattsburgh Saturday night.

The Lakers remain the No. 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs, and will host the lowest remaining seed following Wednesday's play-in games on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. Ticket information will be released on Sunday. The Cardinals are the No. 2 seed, and will host the highest remaining seed next Saturday as well.

The Lakers dealt the first blow when Jon Whitelaw dug out a puck along the far boards to Paul Rodrigues, who was deep in the zone. He hit Bobby Gertsakis with a pass, as he was crashing to the back pipe. Gertsakis, then, extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with the power-play goal at 14:42 in the first.  

Plattsburgh evened the score late in the frame with a power-play marker of its own when Mark Constantine got the puck past Laker goalie Andrew Hare with assists going to Kevin Emmerling and Jared Docking.

With the score tied at 1-1 heading into the second, the Laker offense turned up the pressure on Cadieux, who made a several strong saves to keep the game tied. It was not until the 14:01 mark that the deadlock ended when Emmerling put away a rebound on another Cardinal power play to put the home team back in front.

Minutes later, Plattsburgh gained another power play following a Laker interference penalty. Matt Singleton blocked a shot at the blue line creating a breakaway on Cardinal goalie Mathieu Cadieux, who came out of the net to try to poke the puck away. Cadieux got a small piece of the puck, causing it roll around in the crease with Cadieux well out of position. David Titanic put a stick on it, scoring his ninth goal of the season. 

Both squads appeared to be headed into intermission knotted at two, but Nick Jensen scored his sixth goal of the season at 18:39 to send Oswego State into the locker room trailing, 3-2.

Hare kept the Cardinals off the board early in the third when he stopped a pair of shots on a breakaway that would have resulted in a short-handed goal. However, Plattsburgh eventually doubled its lead at 7:45 when Emmerling capitalized on a Laker turnover behind the net and lifted his shot over Hare for his second goal of the game.

Midway through the period, Plattsburgh committed two penalties to give Oswego State a 5-on-3 situation. The Lakers scored 12 seconds into the two-skater advantage when Luke Moodie found the back of the net with a series of tic-tac-toe passes from Rodrigues and Whitelaw.

Oswego State pulled Hare with 46 seconds remaining in regulation, but was unable to net the equalizer to force overtime.

The Lakers ended the game 2-for-6 on the power play with one short-handed goal compared to Plattsburgh, which went 2-for-6 as well. Hare finished the game with 31 saves, while Cadieux ended with 26 stops.

So with that the regular season has come to an end. Playoffs begin this Saturday night at 7PM and the opponent will be determined tomorrow. So check back at the end of the week for previews of all playoff games this weekend!

(Photo provided by the Oswego State Athletics Department)

Oswego state Women Sweep Cortland; Clinch 3 Seed

Going into the final weekend of the season, the Oswego State Women's Hockey team had already clinched themselves a playoff spot in ECAC West play. Now it was can they lock themselves up a high seed in the tournament? The answer was a resounding yes. After struggling the last few weeks as part of a three game losing streak, Oswego closed out the regular season with a weekend set in Cortland against the Red Dragons. In program history, Oswego is 7-0-7 against Cortland, and 3-0-3 in Cortland. All games played between these two clubs have been close contests, and these games were no different.

First up was a Friday night contest between the two clubs, both teams fighting it out for playoff spots. Oswego controlled the play early on, and it helped. leading Oswego to a 3-2 victory to snap their three game losing streak. Oswego outshot Cortland 15-6 in the opening period but Cortland got on the board first thanks to Chelsey Wright's 8th goal of the year at the 8:06 mark. However Oswego would finally even things up at one, when at the 18:56 mark Chelsea Hunt scored her 3rd of the year, a powerplay goal, to get Oswego back to even ground going into the intermission. Hunt's goal was the first one by a Laker player in over three hockey games. Before that, Lizzy Marks was the last Laker to score a goal when she found the back of the net late in the first game against Stevenson on January 26th, so it snapped a LONG goal less drought for Oswego as well.

To the 2nd period we go, and Cortland started to show a little more life. Oswego outshot Cortland 15-10 in the middle period, but Cortland had really picked their play up. The Red Dragons retook the lead at the 6:35 mark thanks to Maggie Giamo's 11th of the season. Oswego would answer back at the 9:45 mark of the period when Melissa Seamont scored her 9th of the year to once again tie the score. So the teams were tied at two going into the 3rd period. Cortland outplayed Oswego in the 3rd, outshooting the Lakers 10-4. Oswego however got the last laugh in when at the 2:31 mark Jocelyn St. Clair scored her 3rd of the season and it proved to be the winner as the Lakers held on for the 3-2 win.

Deanna Meunier took the loss for Cortland, dropping her record to 6-12-1 on the year, while making 31 saves in the loss. Bridget Smith picked up the win for Oswego, improving her record to 10-7-1, while making 24 saves in the victory. Melissa Seamont (goal assist) and Jocelyn St. Clair (goal assist) had two points each, while Chelsea Hunt (goal) and Emma Smetaniuk (assist) picked up a point each.

The Red Dragons and Lakers faced off against each other again the following afternoon in the final game of the regular season for both clubs, and with potential final playoff spots on the line for both teams. As it was the night before, this was another low scoring contest, and as it was the night before, Oswego walked away with another victory, this time by a 3-1 score. The only excitement in the first period was provided by Cortland. Maggie Giamo scored her 12th of the season just 11 seconds into the hockey game to give the Red Dragons a 1-0 lead. It would be not only the lone goal scored in the period, but the lone goal for Cortland all afternoon. Each team took six shots in that opening period. Oswego controlled play in the 2nd period, outshooting Cortland 12-8 in the middle frame and scoring a pair of goals. First at the 11:00 mark Breanne Reith scored her 2nd goal of the year, and her 2nd career goal, to tie the game at one. Then at the 19:50 mark Emma Smetaniuk scored her 5th of the season, and 2nd in as many days, to give Oswego a 2-1. Jocelyn St Clair would put the game away at the 7:50 mark of the 3rd period to seal a 3-1 victory for Oswego, despite Cortland's late charge in the 3rd period.

Deanna Meunier again took the loss for Cortland, dropping her overall record to 6-13-1, while making 20 saves in the loss. Tori Trovato picked up the win for Oswego, improving her record on the year to 2-3-0, while making 23 saves in the win. St. Clair (goal), Smetaniuk (goal), Reith (goal), Olivia Boersen (assist), and Bailee Goodon (assist) picked up points on the day for Oswego.

So with the victories over the weekend, Oswego moved to 12-11-1 overall on the season, and 10-6-0 in ECAC West play. That 10-6-0 record in conference was good enough for Oswego to finish in 3rd place and guarantee them a home playoff game next weekend in Oswego. This is indeed a major accomplishment for the team who had only 17 players on the roster and was projected in pre-season polls to finish out of the playoffs. That speaks volumes as to how well this hockey team did this season and how dedication and hard work can really pay off. Congratulations to the team and a hard earned and very well deserved 3rd place finish. Preview of the playoff game will be posted on the blog later on this week!

(Photo provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Bobby Gertsakis Has Coming Out Party in Oswego Sweep

The Oswego State Men's Hockey team kept right on rolling this past weekend, as the kicked off a four game road trip to close out the regular season. It started with a trip to Western New York for games against Buffalo State and Fredonia and ended as a coming out party, offensively, for Bobby Gertsakis. Things got started last Friday night in Buffalo State as the Lakers and Bengals squared off for the 2nd time this season. Oswego won the earlier matchup back in November in Oswego by a 5-4 score, and were hoping for another similar result.

This time around the Lakers dominated from start to finish and were able to knock off the Bengals by a 4-0 score. Tyler Leimbrock got the scoring going for Oswego, his 9th of the year, with a power play goal at the 5:40 mark of the 1st period. That was the only time either team found the back of the net in the opening frame. Oswego out shot Buffalo State in the opening period 13-2. To the 2nd period we go and Oswego would connect twice more to take a 3-0 lead. First Luke Moodie scored his 16th of the year at the 5:19 mark to give the Lakers a 2-0. Oswego's lead would increase to 3-0 thanks to a power play goal, and the first goal of his career, from Bobby Gertsakis. The goal was scored at 11:05 of the period, and I'm sure its one he'll remember for a long time. Oswego would cap off the scoring on the night when Chris Muise scored his 6th of the year at the 18:40 mark of the 3rd period to seal the game and the 4-0 win.

Oswego outshot Buffalo State 33-18 for the hockey game. Kevin Carr took the loss for Buffalo State, dropping his record on the year to 10-11-2, while he made 29 saves in the loss. Andrew Hare picked up the win for Oswego, improving his record to 15-3-0, while making 18 saves in the shutout. For Hare it was career shutout number 10, giving him a new school record for career shutouts. Offensively Chris Muise ( goal two assists) and Chris Brown (three assists) had the big nights for Oswego. After sweeping both games from Buffalo State this year, Oswego still remains unbeaten all time with a 37-0-4 record in history against the Bengals.

SAo after Oswego took care of the Bengals, it was off to Steele Hall Ice Arena in Fredonia to take on the Blue Devils. Last time these two teams played was back in Oswego in mid-November and Oswego walked away with a 7-1 victory. So Fredonia had revenge on their minds. It was a tight checking hockey game, and Oswego somehow pulled out the 3-2 victory and sweep the road trip.

Bobby Gertsakis got Oswego on the board first, with his 2nd goal in as many days, a power play goal 6:08 into the hockey game. Fredonia would eventually get on the board, when at the 18:06 mark Stephen Castriota scored his 4th of the year to tie the game at 1. To the 2nd period we go and it took only 1:47 before Oswego untied the game thanks to Chris Muise 4th of the season. Fredonia would tie the game up again at two thanks to Taylor Bourne's 5th of the year, a power play goal, at the 5:10 mark. Oswego would retake the lead for good at the 19:54 mark of the 2nd period thanks to Bobby Gertsakis 2nd of the night and 3rd of the year, another powerplay goal. Fredonia had their chances in the 3rd period to tie things up but Oswego held the fort down and walked away with the 3-2 win.

Andrew Hare picked up the win for Oswego, improving his record to 16-3-0, while making 17 saves in the win. Mark Friesen took the loss for Fredonia, dropping his record to 6-11-3, while making 29 saves in the loss. Leading the way for Oswego tonight was Bobby Gertsakis (two goals) Chris Brown (three assists) Chris Ayotte (two assists) and Chris Muise (goal assist) That Chris Cubed line has been a solid 2nd line for Oswego over the past few weeks that they have played together. For Bobby Gertsakis it was the first three goals of his career. The sophmmore defenseman is known for play in his own zone and the three goal outburst served as sort of a coming out party offensively.

Oswego closes out the regular season with a trip to the North Country. Friday February 15th Oswego heads to Massena Arena to take on the Potsdam Bears at 7PM. Then its the final game of the regular season, and possible SUNYAC Championship game preview, as Satruday February 16th Oswego heads to the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena to take on the rival Plattsburgh State Cardinals at 7PM!

(Photo provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Oswego Senior Weekend Spoiled By Elmira

This Past weekend the Oswego State Women's Hockey team held its annual Senior Weekend, where they honor the seniors on the hockey team every year. This year the lone senior was defenseman, and East St. Paul, Manitoba native Breanne Reith. This year's senior weekend was a tough test for the Lakers though as it was a two game weekend set against the #3 nationally ranked Elmira Soaring Eagles. Oswegom struggled in both games, and were shut out both times by Elmira in very hard fought contests.

First up was a close matchup Friday night that Elmira narrowly came away with a 2-0 victory. Caitlin Metcalf scored her 9th of the year, a powerplay goal, at the 5:43 mark of the 1st period to get Elmira on the board. Erin Weston would put the game away at the 17:05 mark of the 2nd period, her 5th of the year. Oswego, for the most part, kept this a close hockey game. Oswego actually outshot and outplayed Elmira in the first period, outshooting the Soaring Eagles 9-5, but Elmira had the one goal lead. Elmira dominated play in the 2nd period, outshooting Oswego 14-3 and had the 2-0 lead. Oswego showed life in the 3rd period, again outshooting Elmira 8-7 but it wasn't enough as Elmira held on for the victory.

Lauren Sullivan got the win for Elmira, improving her record on the year to 10-2-1, as she made 20 saves in the shutout. Bridget Smith took the loss for Oswego, dropping her record to 9-6-1, as she made 24 saves in the tough loss.

That was Friday night. These same two teams met again Saturday afternoon on Senior Day in Oswego. However things went south quickly for Oswego as Elmira dominated from start to finish, skating away with a 6-0 victory. Cassidy Delainey and Madison Johnston scored in the first, Olivia Nystrom and Ashton Hogan scored in the 2nd, and Tanis Lamoureux and Mary-Kate Gellerman did the scoring in the 3rd. Elmira outshot Oswego 61-9 for the entire hockey game. The Soaring Eagles just dominated from start to finish. Lauren Sullivan got her 2nd shutout in as many days, making 9 saves and improving her record to 11-2-1. Bridget Smith took the loss for Oswego, dropping her record to 9-7-1, while she made 55 saves in the loss.

This weekend sweep has now put Oswego into a three game loosing streak and under 500 for the first time since mid-November. In this three game skid, Oswego has been shut out all three times. The last time Oswego scored a goal was in a 5-1 win over Stevenson on January 26th. Lizzy Marks was the last Laker to find the back of the net when she scored a power play goal late in the 3rd period of that game.

This year Oswego honored the only senior on the team, defenseman Breanne Reith. Reith, a native of East St Paul Manitoba, is a hard charging stay at home defenseman who was best known for the physical brand of hockey she played every single night. In the 81 games she has played in she has a goal and four assists for five career points. Her presence will be sourly missed on the blue line next season.

Oswego closes out the regular season with a weekend series in Cortland as they take on the Red Dragons. game one is this Friday the 15th at 7PM and the final game of the regular season is Saturday the 16th at 2PM!

(Photo provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Senior Night a Success As Oswego Downs Morrisville

In what was a very emotional night Friday night in Oswego, the Oswego State Men's Hockey team took to the ice for the final home game of the 2012-13 regular season and said goodbye to 14 seniors after the game against SUNYAC foe the Morrisville Mustangs. Before the ceremony for the senior class, there was a game to be played, and Oswego got down to business and walked away with a 3-2 victory. The recap of the events from Friday's action in Oswego come to us courtesy of the Oswego State Sports Information Department.

The Oswego State men's ice hockey team  pulled out a 3-2 win over streaking Morrisville Friday at the Campus Center Arena on a night that the Lakers honored their seniors. Captain Jon Whitelaw scored the eventual game-winner to give Oswego State its first win over the Mustangs at home since Feb. 27, 2010 in a SUNYAC semifinal contest.

The Lakers came out swarming in front of the home crowd resulting in David Titanic scoring his third goal in as many games 1:46 into the game. He skated up the near boards and ripped a slap shot that narrowly slid through Morrisville goalie Christopher Azzano past the goal line. Morrisville nearly evened the score in the seventh minute when Ryan Marcuz got around a Laker defender, but his shot clanged off the far post to keep Oswego State out in front.

Titanic later drew a hooking penalty at 15:55 when he received a pass behind the Mustang defensemen. The subsequent power play led to Luke Moodie burying a pass that came from behind the goal line off Paul Rodrigues' stick. Jon Whitelaw also earned an assist on the goal.

However, Morrisville quieted the crowd at the 18:10 mark when Zach Baker capitalized on a Laker turnover in their defensive zone to make the score 2-1 at intermission, despite owning a 16-6 advantage in shots on goal.

The Mustangs gained a 5-on-3 situation for 33 seconds in the early stages of the second period. Ten seconds after Oswego State returned to full strength, James Jarvis took a shot from the top of the slot that went top shelf over Laker goalie Andrew Hare's blocker at the 5:12 mark to knot the game at 1-1. Mike Dolman was credited with an assist on the goal.

Midway through the second period, Whitelaw one-timed a shot in the slot along the ice just inside the left post to put Oswego State back in front at 9:46. Zach Josepher started the play from the point, feeding Moodie at the bottom of the right face-off circle.

The Lakers threatened in the third period on a pair of power plays, but came up empty as they tried to extend the lead. However, the Mustangs began to press the issue as the frame wore on with Hare making 15 saves. Morrisville pulled Azzano with 34 seconds left in an effort to send the game into overtime, but came up empty.

Oswego State ended up 1-for-5 on the power play, while Morrisville finished 0-for-5. Hare posted his 14th win of the season after stopping 32 shots. Azzano tallied 33 saves in the losing effort.

After the game, Oswego State honored its 14 seniors on the ice. Members of the senior class include Luke Moodie, Jon Whitelaw, Chris Ayotte, Paul Rodrigues, Zach Josepher, Tim Carr, Tyler Leimbrock, Taylor Farris, Matt Singleton, Chris Muise, Chris Brown, Jesse McConney, Andrew Hare and Daniel Jones.

During the post game ceremony, a nice tribute video was played in the arena to honor the players.  In cased anybody missed the video tribute, here it is:

Thanks to Bob Clark, and assistant Coach Mike Grey for making, and posting the video in the Oswego State Blueline Club Page online.

So now that the senior night festivities have concluded, Oswego now has an overall record of 18-3-0 and 11-1-0 in SUNYAC play. With the home portion of the schedule now complete, the Lakers begin a four game road trip to wrap up the regular season. First up the team travels to the Buffalo State Ice Arena to play the Buffalo State Bengals Friday February 8th at 7pm, and then continue the trip Saturday February 9th as they head to Steele Hall Ice Arena to play the Fredonia Blue Devils also at 7pm!

Pro Football Hall of Fame 2013

Over the weekend the announcement came down for the newest members to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and there were a few surprises on who got in and who was snubbed. Who got in wasn't really that big of a surprise. Bill Parcells, Cris Carter, Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden and Warren Sapp were voted into Pro Football Hall of Fame. The class of 2013 also included a pair of senior selections, Curley Culp and Dave Robinson. Five players failed to get in on the final vote: Jerome Bettis, Charles Haley, Andre Reed, Michael Strahan and Aeneas Williams. Bettis, Reed and Strahan were a surprise not to get in on this vote at least. Before we get to that lets look at the guys who got in.

Bill Parcells goes into the coaches category. Parcells coached four different teams during his career in the NFL, and has been a football coach in either college or the NFL from 1964 until he finally retired for good from coaching in 2009. During his stint in the NFL, Parcells was the defensive coordinator for the 1979 Giants, linebacker coach for the 1980 New England Patriots, then joined the Giants staff in 1981 and was defensive coordinator from 1981-1982 and from 1983-1990 was the Giants head coach, winning two Super Bowls. He then went on to become head coach of the New England Patriots from 1993-1997, then became head coach of the New York Jets from 1997-1999. Parcells then stepped away from the game for four years, returning again as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2003-2006. Parcells ended his tenure in the NFL as a consultant for the Miami Dolphins from 2008-2010. As a head coach, Bill Parcells went 172-130-1 during the regular season and 11-8 in the playoffs, and he won AP coach of the year twice. He is the only coach going into the hall this season, the first coach to be inducted into the hall since John Madden got in back in 2006. Very deserving honor indeed.

This year we have two offensive linemen going into the hall, Larry Allen and Jonathan Ogden. Larry Allen played for two teams during his 13 year NFL career. First up was an eleven year span playing for the Dallas Cowboys from 1994-2005, then the final two years in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers from 2006-2007. Allen was the starting guard on the Dallas Cowboys on their 1996 championship team. Allen played 203 games over his 14 year career, appearing in 203 total games, eleven pro bowls and was a seven time all pro and was also a member of the all decade teams for the 1990's and 2000's. Allen played in more pro bowls than any other offensive player in Dallas Cowboys history and is considered one of the greatest guards in the history of the game. Jonathan Ogden also got the call for the hall this year, after a impressive twelve year career playing for the Baltimore Ravens from 1996-2007. Ogden is tied for the tallest player in the history of the league at 6'9, played his entire career at Left Tackle in Baltimore, winning one superbowl with the 2001 Ravens. He was a nine time all pro and an eleven time pro bowler, and also picked up the award for Offensive Lineman of the year in 2002. Another distinguished player deserved of induction into the football hall of fame.

Next up we have the lone defensive linemen to be inducted into the hall this year, that being Warren Sapp. Sapp played defensive tackle for 13 years in the NFL, playing for the Tampa bay Buccaneers from 1995-2003 and the Oakland Raiders from 2004-2007. Sapp played in 198 games over his career, earning the all pro honor four times and played in seven pro bowls and winning one superbowl with the Bucs in 2003. Sapp holds the Tampa Bay record for career sacks as part of the 96.5 he had during his career. Warren had a huge impact on the game. During his career he also contributed points on offense as well, with 4 interceptions for 8 yards and 1 TD, and 4 receptions for 39 yards and 2 touchdowns. Warren had himself a fine career and is indeed deserving of hall of fame induction.

The only non linemen to go into the hall of fame this year is wide receiver Chris Carter. Carter played in the NFL for 16 years and for three different teams. First up Carter played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1987-89, then it was his most productive stop playing for the Minnesota Vikings from 1990-2001 and finally playing the 2002 season with the Miami Dolphins. Carter finished his career with 1,101 catches for 13,899 yards and 130 touchdowns over 234 games. Carter was named all pro twice and played in eight pro bowls during his career. There are a few notable career marks that Carter has his name attached to, and they are as follows: One of two players to record 120+ receptions in a season twice, 1994 and 1995, most 12+ reception games in a single season (4) in 1995, one of 3 players (Clarke Gaines and Jerry Rice) to record 12+ receptions in back to back games Most 1-yard touchdown receptions in NFL history (9) Most touchdown receptions 2 yards or less in NFL history (16) – tied with Jerry Rice Most touchdown receptions 4 yards or less in NFL history (28) Most touchdown receptions 5 yards or less in NFL history (36) – tied with Jerry Rice Most touchdown receptions 6 yards or less in NFL history (44) Most touchdown receptions 7 yards or less in NFL history (48) Most consecutive games with 2 touchdown receptions (4) – tied with Calvin Johnson Most consecutive seasons with 5+ touchdown receptions (11) – Terrell Owens, Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Don Hutson, Tim Brown First player to record a 150 yard receiving game in 3 different decades (Jerry Rice is the only other player to do so). So its obvious Chris carter is worthy of his hall of fame induction.

So there you have it with the guys who got into the hall this year. There were a few guys who, surprisingly, got snubbed from the hall this season. On offense, Jerome Bettis, Andre Reed and Tim Brown were left out in the cold. Bettis was a big surprise, as he was the only running back on the list for final vote. Bettis had his best years playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning one superbowl. At the time of his retirement, "The Bus" sat fifth on the all time rushing list with 13,662 rushing yards. With the career numbers Bettis put up it is a shock he isn't in yet, especially when somebody like Marshall Faulk got int two years ago. Now that's no knock on Faulk by any means, its just that he had less productive numbers than Bettis and he is in but Bettis isn't. i think this may also have something to do with impact on the team. Faulk had a bigger overall impact on the teams he played for than Bettis did. Now Bettis is a great football player and will one of these days get into the hall but it was a bit of a surprise that this wasn't his year.

Two more offensive surprises were Andre Reed and Tim Brown being left out of the hall this year. Of the three receivers up for the hall this year, Brown Reed and Carter, Brown and Carter had the best numbers statistically. Reed had great years with the Buffalo Bills and was a big reason they got to fours straight superbowls, but I don't think he was as much of a game breaker type of receiver as the other two guys. Plus I think if Reed and the Bills had won at least one of those superbowls he might have had a better chance of getting into the hall. Same thing too can be said about Tim Brown playing for sub-par teams. Brown played more games and had more receiving yards in his career than Carter did, but like I said before I think Carter helped make the Vikings a better football team, and Brown never REALLY got the Raiders to the next level, which is why I think he was left out of the Hall this year.

The biggest surprise to be left out of the hall on defense was Michael Strahan. Strahan played his entire 15 year career with the New York Giants, and held the record for most sacks in an NFL season with 22.5 back in 2001. Strahan was one of the more feared defensive ends in football and he had the numbers to back up that claim. now I'll give credit where its due in the fact that Warren Sapp was one of the top end talents at defensive end in football but between him and Strahan, I feel that this year at least Strahan should be going into the hall and Sapp should have to wait another year. But again thats just me.

So there you have it with the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2013!

Ray Lewis Goes Out on Top

Ray Lewis began his NFL career 15 years ago with a bang, and last night it ended the exact same way. The storybook ending to his career was completed last night as the Ravens beat the 49ers 34-31 in the Superbowl to capture the franchises 2nd ever NFL crown. This superbowl had a little big of everything: big run plays, big pass plays, sacks, fumbles, fake field goals, and even a power outage. So if you missed anything at all from the big game, here's a recap of what happened.

San Francisco was hurt by penalties and turnovers early in the game as the Ravens built a 21–6 first-half lead. On their first play of the opening drive, tight end Vernon Davis' 20-yard reception was called back by an illegal formation penalty. The team ended up punting after three more plays, and Jacoby Jones returned the ball 17 yards to the Ravens 49-yard line. Baltimore then drove 51 yards, scoring on Joe Flacco's 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Anquan Boldin. Flacco had previously thrown a third-down incompletion, but an offsides penalty against linebacker Ahmad Brooks gave him a second chance.

San Francisco responded on their next possession, moving the ball 62 yards in a 12-play drive, with quarterback Colin Kaepernick completing a 19-yard pass to Michael Crabtree and a 24-yarder to Davis. David Akers finished the drive with a 36-yard field goal to cut the score to 7–3. Baltimore responded with a drive to the 49ers 37-yard line, featuring a 30-yard catch by Boldin. Flacco was sacked on third down for a 5-yard loss by defensive tackle Ray McDonald, pushing the Ravens out of field goal range and forcing a punt into the end zone from the 42-yard line.

Five plays into the 49ers next drive, linebacker Courtney Upshaw forced a fumble from running back LaMichael James, and Baltimore's Arthur Jones recovered it on the Ravens 25-yard line. Baltimore drove 75 yards on 10 plays, 42 of those came from a 23 yard and a 14 yard pass to tight end Ed Dickson, the second followed by a 15-yard facemask penalty. Dennis Pitta caught a 1-yard touchdown catch on the final play of the drive and the extra point made the score 14–3.

On the first play of the next drive, Ed Reed intercepted a pass by Kaepernick and returned the ball 6 yards to the 49ers 38-yard line. This was the first interception thrown by San Francisco in any of their Super Bowl appearances. Unnecessary roughness charges were called after the play on players from both teams so the charges offset. Baltimore reached the red zone on their next drive, but was unable to score. Following a one yard run by Bernard Pierce and two incomplete passes, Baltimore elected to attempt a fake field goal on fourth and nine from the 14-yard line. Justin Tucker was tackled 1 yard short of a first down.

San Francisco was forced to a three-and-out on the drive. Jones muffed the punt, but recovered the ball and returned it 11 yards to the Ravens' 44-yard line. Two plays later, Jones made a falling catch deep down the field, then got back up and eluded two 49ers defensive backs en route to a 56-yard touchdown reception, making the score 21–3 with less than two minutes to go in the first half. On the second play of San Francisco's next drive, Delanie Walker caught a 14-yard pass from Kaepernick, which was extended by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty against Haloti Ngata. After an incomplete first down attempt, Walker received another 28-yard pass, putting San Francisco on the Baltimore 17-yard line. San Francisco reached the 9-yard line, but were unable to convert on three plays. On the last play of the half, Akers kicked his second field goal to cut their deficit to 21–6.

On the second-half kickoff, Jones received the ball in the back of the end zone and raced down the field for a 108-yard touchdown return, increasing the Ravens lead after the extra point to 28–6. It was the longest kickoff return in the history of the Super Bowl, it broke the previous 102-yard record for the longest kickoff return in the playoffs, and it tied an NFL record already held by Jones and shared with Ellis Hobbs and Randall Cobb for the longest kickoff return.

Shortly into the 49ers next drive, a power outage due to equipment failure at the stadium caused play to be suspended for 34 minutes.

After play resumed, both teams punted once. Then San Francisco drove 80 yards, with Kaepernick rushing for 15 yards and completing an 18-yard pass to Davis before finishing the drive with a pass to Crabtree, who broke through two potential Ravens tacklers on the way to a 31-yard touchdown reception. Then Baltimore was forced to punt from their own 9 yard line following Brooks' 8-yard sack of Flacco on third down, and Ted Ginn, Jr. returned the ball 32 yards to the 20 before being shoved out of bounds by punter Sam Koch. Kaepernick completed a 14-yard pass to Davis on the next play, and Gore followed it up with a 6-yard touchdown run, cutting the score to 28–20.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Baltimore lost their first turnover when defensive back Tarell Brown forced and recovered a fumble from Ray Rice on the Ravens 25-yard line. Three plays later, Akers missed a 39-yard field goal attempt, but Baltimore's Chykie Brown was penalized for running into the kicker, and Akers' second attempt was good from 34 yards, trimming the lead to 28–23.

The Ravens responded on their ensuing possession, moving the ball 77 yards and scoring to the San Francisco 1-yard line, with Boldin catching two passes for 39 yards. But they were unable to get into the end zone and settled for Tucker's 19-yard field goal to put them back up by 8 points, 31–23. San Francisco stormed back, scoring in just five plays. Following a 32-yard reception by Randy Moss and a 21-yard burst by Gore, Kaepernick took the ball across the goal line on a 15-yard run, the longest touchdown run by a quarterback in Super Bowl history. However, the two-point conversion failed, so the 49ers were unable to break the deficit, still trailing at 31–29.

On the Ravens ensuing drive, Boldin caught two passes for 22 yards and Rice rushed for 11 yards as the team moved the ball 55 yards and scored on Tucker's 38-yard field goal, making the score 34–29 with 4:19 left in Regulation. San Francisco used up two timeouts on their next drive, but managed to move the ball to a first and goal on the Ravens 7-yard with with a 24-yard catch by Crabtree and a 33-yard run by Gore.

With four chances to take the lead, San Francisco started out with a 2-yard run by James to the 5-yard line. Then Keapernick threw two incompletions, bringing up fourth down. On their last chance, Kaepernick tried to throw the ball to Crabtree in the end zone, but it was too far ahead and the pass fell incomplete. Defensive back Jimmy Smith had made contact with Crabtree prior to the ball arriving, but no penalty was called and the 49ers turned the ball over on downs with 1:46 left in the game.

San Francisco managed to force a three-and-out on the Ravens next drive, but by the time they reached fourth down, only 11 seconds remained. Then Koch ran the clock down to 4 seconds before giving up an intentional safety by running out of the end zone. On the final play of the game, Ginn returned the free kick 31 yards, but was tackled at midfield as time expired.

Boldin was the Ravens leading receiver with 6 receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown. Jones returned 5 kickoffs for 208 yards and a touchdown, two punts for 28 yards, and caught a 56-yard touchdown pass. He was the first player ever to score a touchdown on offense and special teams in the Super Bowl, and his 292 all-purpose yards were also a Super Bowl record. Paul Kruger had three tackles and two sacks, while Reed had five tackles and an interception. Reed's interception gave him 9 career postseason picks, tying the NFL record. Dannell Ellerbe had nine tackles, while Ray Lewis had seven tackles in the final game of his 17-season career.

For San Francisco, Kaepernick finished 16/28 for 302 yards and a touchdown, with one interception, while also rushing for 62 yards and another score. His 62 rushing yards were the second highest total by a quarterback in the Super Bowl, behind Steve McNair's record of 64. Gore rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown. Crabtree caught 5 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, while Davis caught 6 passes for 104 yards. His 104 receiving yards tied Dan Ross' record for most the ever by a tight end in a Super Bowl. Patrick Willis was the top tackler of the game with 10, while Brooks had five tackles and a sack.

So there you have it. A thrilling football game to decide the best team in the NFL this season. With this game being as exciting as it was, there were also a few records broken during the ball game. Take a look. Jacoby Jones tied an NFL league record and set a Super Bowl record for longest kickoff return in a Super Bowl with a 108-yard return to open up the second half. He also set the record for most combined yards in a Super Bowl game with 290, and tied the record for most touchdown plays of 50 yards or more, with 2. Colin Kaepernick set a super bowl record for the longest rushing touchdown from a quarterback for his 15 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. This beat the previous 6 yard record held by Joe Montana achieved in Super Bowl XIX. The Ravens scored the same amount of points (34) in both of their Super Bowl appearances. Meanwhile, the 49ers became just the second team to lose the Super Bowl and score more than 30 points after the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII; in both cases, the losing team scored 31 points. The two Super Bowls are also the only two times in NFL history (including both pre-Super Bowl and post-Super Bowl eras) where both teams scored over 30 points in a Championship game. Both teams combined for 312 kickoff return yards, a Super Bowl record. Owing to the power outage in the third quarter, the game running time of 4 hours, 14 minutes was also a record.

With that in mind we close the book on the 2012 NFL season and the career of Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. Lewis had 41.5 sacks during his 15 seasons, playing in a total of 228 regular season games. He played in 21 more playoff games, recorded 2 sacks and won two superbowl titles in his career. Ray Lewis will go down in the books as one of the more feared middle linebackers in the history of the NFL and will no doubt be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame when his playing career is over!

Ravens and 49ers Set For Battle in New Orleans

After a gruling 17 week regular season and another three more weeks of playoff football, the stage is finally set to see who will be crowned the champions of the National Football League. Super Bowl XLVII is set to go this Sunday night from the Superdome in New Orleans as the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers play host to the AFC Champion Baltimore Ravens.

This will mark the first Super Bowl in which both of the teams have appeared in, but not yet lost, a previous Super Bowl: the 49ers have won all five of their previous Super Bowls while the Ravens won in their only previous Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXV against the New York Giants. This means that the winner will become the only remaining team in the NFL to have appeared in multiple Super Bowls without losing one. This will also be the first Super Bowl in which both teams can trace their lineage to the All-America Football Conference, as the Ravens are descended from the Cleveland Browns franchise, which joined the NFL along with the 49ers when the AAFC disbanded in 1949.

Much of the pregame media hype centered around the Harbaugh brothers, and how their father Jack, a former college football head coach, raised them. On January 24, Jack, along with his wife Jackie and daughter Joani, conducted a media conference call, answering questions about John and Jim. Jackie jokingly asked if the game could end in a tie, before stating that the family is staying neutral but remain excited that both John and Jim brought their respective teams to the Super Bowl.

In head to head meetings between these teams, the Ravens have dominated San Francisco in the three previous meetings since 2001. First was November 30th, 2003 in which the Ravens won 44-6, while the 2nd meeting again went to the Ravens 9-7 back on October 7th, 2007, and finally the Ravens won the last meeting between the two back on November 24th, 2011 by a score of 16-6.

During the regular season, the 49ers put up better statistical numbers then the Ravens. It may not mean a whole lot come playoff time but it does still need to be considered. This matchup on paper seems to be pretty even and will turn out to be a great football game. In the end I think its going to come down to the kicking game. In that regards, Baltimore has the advantage. David Akers has been a little shaky for the 49ers in the playoffs missing eight field goals, which for him is unusual. Now consider the fact that the game is being played in a Dome which could even things out more. This game will turn into a shootout and go right down to the wire. Final score prediction: Ravens 30, 49ers 27!