Box Score
It took some time, but the top-ranked Oswego State men's ice hockey team broke open a tight contest with a six-goal third period to defeat ninth-ranked Geneseo, 7-1, on Senior Night Saturday in the Campus Center Ice Arena. Senior assistant captain Chris Laganiere provided a great deal of the offensive firepower with a hat trick, while junior Ian Boots assisted five Laker goals.
Oswego State closed out the regular season at 22-3-0 overall and 15-1-0 in the SUNYAC standings. The Blue Knights, who are the No. 2-seed in the SUNYAC Playoffs, fell to 16-7-2 overall and 10-5-1 in the league.
After a scoreless first period, Andrew Mather put the Lakers on the board at 6:46 in the second period. Geneseo tried to clear the puck in its defensive zone, but Mather blocked the clearing attempt, gained control of the puck, and sent a wrist shot inside the left post. Oswego State took the 1-0 lead into the locker room with one period to play.
Chris Laganiere broke the game wide open early in the third period when he lifted a shot into the top left corner of the net on a breakaway past Blue Knight goalie Adrian Rubeniuk at 2:20. Less than a minute later, while on a power play, Laganiere struck again when he one-timed a pass from Boots and Justin Fox to give the Lakers a 3-0 advantage.
Midway through the period, senior Owen Kelly muscled a shot through Rubeniuk's legs for his second short-handed goal of the season after Boots created a turnover at neutral ice. Geneseo silenced the home crowd briefly at 12:07 when Carson Schell's wrist shot got through traffic in front of Oswego State goalie Paul Beckwith with Jake Yard getting the helper.
However, the Lakers tacked on three more goals in a 1:45 span with scores from Fox, Matt Singleton, and Laganiere to complete the hat trick.
Oswego State closed out the game 2-for-5 on the power play, while Geneseo went 0-for-4 with the extra skater. Beckwith finished the contest with 28 saves on 29 shots. Rubeniuk ended the game with 40 saves on 47 shots.
The Lakers will host the lowest remaining seed after the SUNYAC Play-In games on Wednesday, Feb. 27 on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. Ticket details will be posted at athletics.oswego.edu on Sunday morning.
