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)