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!