The Oswego State men's ice hockey defense proved that it has the ability to shut teams down as it defeated Fredonia 3-0 Saturday afternoon in Oswego. The Lakers, who posted their first shutout since the 2008-09 season, limited the Blue Devils to 17 shots and forced the power play unit to go 0-for-7. Oswego State improved to 4-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the SUNYAC, while Fredonia dropped to 1-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the league. 

 

Midway through the first period, Paul Rodrigues created a turnover deep in the Fredonia defensive zone before passing the puck to Chris Muise. Blue Devil goaltender Mark Friesen made a left pad save, but the rebound went right back to Muise's stick as he snuck the puck behind Friesen as his momentum carried him through the crease. The Lakers took the 1-0 lead into the locker room.

 

Friesen was the story of the second period as he made several pivotal saves throughout the stanza to keep the Blue Devils in the contest. However, in the latter stages of the frame, Ian Boots benefited from a costly Fredonia miscue in its defensive zone again when he played the puck off some Blue Devil skaters to create a two-goal cushion at the 17:37 mark. 

 

Fredonia had a couple chances in the final 20 minutes to cut into the lead as Oswego State committed several penalties, but the penalty kill unit stood strong as the Lakers kept the Blue Devils off of the scoreboard. Friesen was pulled in the final minute, but Andrew Mather was able to post an empty-net goal with 0.9 seconds left on the scoreboard to make the final score 3-0. 

 

Laker goalie Paul Beckwith earned his first career shutout by stopping 17 shots. Oswego State's last shutout came on February 14, 2009 when the Lakers defeated Geneseo 5-0 on the road. Friesen ended with 33 saves in the losing effort for Fredonia.   

 

The win pushed the Lakers' home-win streak to 21 games heading into next weekend's contests versus Potsdam on Friday and Plattsburgh on Saturday.