Oswego State scored three unanswered goals in the second period, and had to survive a a late rally in the final 7:18 of the third period to come away with a 4-3 victory over host St. Norbert College in a battle of national champions at the St. Norbert College Thanksgiving Invitational at the Cornerstone Community Center in Green Bay, WI.
The Lakers (7-2-1), ranked sixth nationally, won the NCAA Division III national championship in 2007, while the Knights (8-2-0), ranked third, are the defending national champions. The loss was the second straight defeat for St. Norbert, their first two-game losing streak since dropping the second and third game of the 2004-05 season.
Four different players scored goals for Oswego, who will play the College of St. Scholastica, a 4-3 overtime winner over Lawrence University in the opening game, tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Central Time (4:30 Eastern). Senior forward Garren Reiswebber (Williamsville, NY) was the team's top points scorer with two assists.
"This was a great win for us," said head coach Ed Gosek. "I am very proud of the way these guys came out and played with St. Norbert. To come in and defeat the national champions on their home ice in front of their fans says a lot about this team."
Oswego scored the game's opening goal when senior forward Derrell Levy (Markham, ONT) tipped in a pass from Reiswebber in front of the net at 10:09 into the opening period. Both teams had 5-on-3 power-play opportunities in the period, with Oswego going on the two-man advantage with 1:51 to play until being called for a hooking penalty with 45 seconds remaining in the period.
St. Norbert tied the game 1:08 into the second period on a power-play goal from Nick Tabisz after the Lakers were called for too many men on the ice. Yet. Oswego regained the lead exactly one minute later as junior Neil Musselwhite (Burlington, ONT) took a pass from a falling Brad Dormiedy (Ajax, ONT) and scored short handed.
The Lakers followed with a pair of goals late in the second half to take a 4-1 lead into the final period as junior Mark Lozzi (Richmond Hill, ONT) took a pass from Reiswebber from left corner and scored with a shot in front of Knights goalkeeper Blake Bashor at 14:56. Senior Francois Gagnon (Beauport, QUE) scored nearly four minutes later on the power play off of assists from linemates Ryan Ellis (Georgetown, ONT) and Brendan McLaughlin (Brampton, ONT).
St. Norbert pulled to within a goal late into the third period when AJ Gale scored back-to-back goals, the first coming at 12:42 while the second came on the power play at 15:52. The Knights outshot Oswego, 16-5, in the final period.
"We played very well for the first two periods," said Gosek. "Our defense came out and gave a good effort and supported (goalkeeper Chris) Hyk, who played tough in the nets. St. Norbert came out in the third period and were playing to win this game, but our guys stayed composed and focused. We have been through these situations before. Sometimes it takes games like Morrisville (a 5-5 overtime tie) and Geneseo (a 4-2 loss) to learn from your mistakes and correct them.
Laker senior goalie Chris Hyk (Hamilton, ONT) made 31 saves, 14 of them coming in the final period, to improve to 3-1-1 on the season. Bashor of St. Norbert finished with 20 saves in picking up his first loss of the season.
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