Oswego Plattsburgh Battle For SUNYAC Crown

For the 3rd time this year, the Oswego State Lakers and Plattsburgh State Cardinals will do battle. This time however there is more than just pride on the line. On the line tomorrow night is a SUNYAC conference championship and automatic bid into the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament is at stake. Both squads have met five times in the last six seasons to determine the SUNYAC Champion. Oswego State won its eighth and most recent SUNYAC title at the end of the 2009-10 season. The Cardinals won their 21st conference title last year. Plattsburgh swept the season series by the scores of 2-1 and 4-3, and have a current three-game winning streak over the Lakers dating back to last year's SUNYAC Championship.

To help get you geared up for the game, here's some good numbers to crutch about both squads. Both squads have been shut out once this season. Oswego State was shut out in a 6-0 loss at Utica, while Plattsburgh's lone shutout was in a 1-0 loss to Norwich. The Lakers are 6-3-0 in games decided by two goals or less, while the Cardinals are 7-5-0. Oswego State is 13-2-0 at home this season and 17-1-0 when scoring the first goal. Plattsburgh is 5-3-1 on the road this year and 14-1-1 when putting the first goal on the scoreboard. The Lakers are 16-0-0 when leading after the first period and 21-0-0 when leading after two frames. Oswego State likes to get out to a fast start, as it has out-scored its opponents 54-22 in the first period. Plattsburgh finishes games strong, as it has out-scored its opponents 39-12 in the third period. Both squads are highly successful when scoring power-play goals, as Oswego State is 17-2-0 when scoring with an extra attacker compared to Plattsburgh, which is 16-2-1. Sixteen of the Lakers' 22 wins have been by three goals or more, while 12 of Plattsburgh's 19 wins have also been by three goals or more.

So now that you know a little about the two teams lets take a closer look at a stats breakdown. Below will be the conference numbers and ranks for both clubs.

Team Offense:
Oswego- 5.00 Goals per Game #1 in conference
Plattsburgh- 3.94 Goals per Game #3 in conference

Team Defense:
Oswego- 1.71 Goals per Game #2 in conference
Plattsburgh- 1.53 Goals per Game #1 in conference

Powerplay:
Oswego- 31 for 98 for 31.63% #2 in conference
Plattsburgh- 25 for 98 for 25.51% #3 in conference

Penalty Kill:
Oswego- 65 of 76 for 85.5% #2 in conference
Plattsburgh- 56 of 62 for 90.3% #1 in conference

Top Scorers:

Oswego:
Paul Rodrigues- 14 goals 28 assists 42 points
Luke Moodie- 20 goals 19 assists 39 points
Chris Muise- 9 goals 22 assists 31 points
Chris Brown- 7 goals 22 assists 29 points
Jon Whitelaw- 8 goals 20 assists 28 points

Plattsburgh:
Jared Docking- 11 goals 19 assists 30 points
Luke Baleshta- 7 goals 19 assists 26 points
Kevin Emmerling- 14 goals 10 assists 24 points
Dillan Fox- 9 goals 11 assists 20 points
Mark Constantine- 9 goals 7 assists 16 points
Connor Gorman- 5 goals 11 assists 16 points

Goaltending:
Oswego
Andrew Hare- 18-4-0 1.82 GAA .932 SV % 5 SO
Dan Jones- 2-0-0 1.56 GAA .934 SV%
Justin Gilbert- 2-0-0 1.55 GAA .944 SV%

Plattsburgh:
Mathieu Cadieux- 15-6-1 1.71 GAA .930 SV % 2 SO
Josh Leis-  2-0-03.09 GAA .872 SV%
Sam Foley- 2-0-0 0.00 GAA 1.000 SV% 1 SO

Puck drop is set for 7PM from the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego!

(Statistics provided by the Oswego State Athletics Department and USCHO.com)