After facing an early two-goal deficit, the second-ranked Oswego State men's ice hockey team rallied to defeat the sixth-ranked Elmira Soaring Eagles, 7-3, in the season opener for both squads Friday night in Elmira.  The programs square off again Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Campus Center Ice Arena as part of SUNY Oswego's Family and Friends Weekend.

The Lakers benefited from a balanced scoring attack as seven different players registered goals and 12 different skaters earned points.  Juniors Luke Moodie (Oakville, Ont.) and Tyler Leimbrock (Bolton, Ont.) led the way with a goal and two assists each.

Oswego State dug a hole for itself early as Elmira raced out of the gates with a Jesper Strale goal 20 seconds into the contest.  The Soaring Eagles extended the lead at 5:46 with a score by Wes Consorti.  However, the Lakers stopped the momentum midway through the frame when Chris Brown (Jr., Centreville, Ont.) fed Chris Ayotte (Jr., Cornwall, Ont.) for a short-handed goal to make it a 2-1 game at 10:08 in the first period.

The energy from the stanza carried over into the second frame as Oswego State netted three goals.  Moodie started the scoring at 9:52 after being on the receiving end of passes from Paul Rodrigues (Jr., Etobicoke, Ont.) and Jon Whitelaw (Jr., Huntsville, Ont.).  Three minutes later, Moodie connected with Whitelaw to give the Lakers a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.  However, head coach Ed Gosek's squad was not done as Leimbrock lit the lamp while Oswego State was on the power play.  Ian Boots (Sr., Akwesasne, N.Y.) and Hank Van Boxmeer (Sr., Orange, Calif.) were credited with assists on the goal that gave the Lakers a 4-2 edge at intermission.

Elmira pulled to within one goal eight minutes into the final period when Willer found the back of the net on the power play.  The Lakers clung to the slim lead until Zack Josepher (Jr., Wantagh, N.Y.) and Kyle Badham (So., Oakville, Ont.) scored less than a minute apart with five minutes to play.  Josepher benefited passes from Moodie and Rodrigues, while Badham recorded his first collegiate goal after a pass from Leimbrock to make it a 6-3 game.  David Titanic (So., Markham, ONT) added the icing on the cake at the 19:05 mark with assists going to Leimbrock and Taylor Farris (Jr., Oakville, ONT).

Paul Beckwith (Sr., Cleveland, Ohio) started the game in goal for Oswego State, but played just one period before Andrew Hare (Jr., Burlington, Ont.) came in to earn the win.  Darren MacDonald suffered the loss for Elmira.