Oswego Falls Short. National Title To Wisconsin Eau-Claire

It was the last game in the careers of 14 seniors on the Oswego State Men's Hockey team. They looked to cap off their outstanding careers with the biggest prize in Division III Hockey, a national championship. As was the case last year, this years club fell short of their goal, taking a 5-3 loss in the title game to the Blugolds of Wisconsin Eau-Claire.

From the moment the puck dropped, Oswego State controlled play. The Lakers jumped out to an early lead, when at the 10:44 mark of the opening period, Bobby Gertsakis scored his 6th of the year. Oswego would increase their lead to 2-0 at the 11:15 mark, a little more than thirty seconds later, when Chris Muise scored his 13th of the season. For Muise it was his 3rd goal in the last two days. Oswego's lead would not last however. Wisconsin got on the board at the 14:25 mark on the powerplay, when Jordan Singer scored his 22nd goal of the year. The Blugolds would tie the game at two at the 19:06 mark when Andrew Wilcox scored his 6th of the season. Wisconsin Eau-Claire outshot Oswego 13-11 in the opening period and skated away with a 2-2 tie. The first half of the period was dominated by Oswego, but they let that slip away and Wisconsin worked they way back to an even footing after 20 minutes.

Wisconsin had the only goal of the middle period, when at the 6:29 mark Daniel Olszewski scored his 7th of the season. The middle period was definitely dominated by Oswego State. The Lakers outshot the Blugolds in the period 7-4 and had three powerplays in the later stages of the period, but came up empty on all of them. Wisconsin Eau-Claire held that 3-2 lead into the 3rd period.

Devin Mantha would score his 7th of the year, at the 7:20 mark of the period, to give Wisconsin Eau-Claire a 4-2 lead and would appear to have put the game out of reach. Oswego would not go away quietly just yet and at the 10:00 mark of the 3rd Bobby Gertsakis would score his 2nd of the game and 7th of the season, to pull Oswego within one with half the period still to go. Oswego would pour on the attack but Wisconsin Eau-Claire would hold off the barrage and with :59 left on the clock, Kurt Weston would score his 14th of the year, into an empty net, to put the game away and seal the victory.

Brandon Stephenson picked up the win for the Blugolds, capping his record off for the year at 22-4-2, while making 27 saves. Stephenson played great in both games over the weekend and was a big reason the Blugolds won it all. Andrew Hare picked up the loss for Oswego, dropping his record on the year to 21-5-0, and he made 20 saves in the loss.

So with the victory, Wisconsin Eau-Claire picked up the first national championship in school history, and a very well deserved honor for them. They were predicted to finish 5th in their 7 team conference and to go from that at the start of the year all the way to a title, speaks volumes about the team. Very well deserved victory for the Blugolds.

After the game the All Tournament team and the Tournament Most Outstanding player was announced. The winners were as follows:

Forward: Jordan Singer (Eau Claire)
Forward: Kurt Weston (Eau Claire)
Forward: Chris Muise (Oswego)
Defense: Drew Darwitz (Eau Claire)
Defense: Bobby Gertsakis (Oswego)
Goalie: Brandon Stephenson (Eau Claire)

 MOP: Jordan Singer (Eau Claire)

So there you have it. The National Championsip to the Wisconsin Eau-Claire Blugolds!

There will be full season recaps for the Oswego State Men's and Women's Hockey teams on the site later this week!

(Photo provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)