OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State women's ice hockey team, which is ranked No. 9 in the latest D3hockey.com poll, held on to beat Buffalo State 3-2 during the first night of Pink in the Rink Weekend on Friday at the Marano Campus Center Arena. Oswego, donning its pink jerseys, improved to 12-4-1 on the year and 8-3-1 in ECAC West action, while the Bengals drop to 9-7-2, 7-4-0.
 
Buffalo State got an early lead off a batted goal. At 3:06 in the first, Nikki Kirchberger kept a puck in the Bengals' offensive zone as Oswego attempted to clear it. The junior ripped a shot high towards Oswego goalie Bridget Smith, but at the last moment, Caitie Horvatits tomahawked the puck out of midair, bouncing it off the ice and into the net.
 
Oswego did not trail for long, however, taking advantage of a 5-on-3 opportunity just over seven minutes later. Andrea Noss won a faceoff in the Laker zone and Olivia Ellis swooped in to dish a pass out to Kendall Appelbaum. Appelbaum found teammate Alli Ullrich between the two circles and the sophomore slapped a shot past the Bengal goalie's right leg for the tally at 10:43.
 
Ullrich's goal was one of three-straight for Oswego, with the next two coming in the second period. The special team's line of Ellis, Ullrich and Appelbaum struck gold again on the power-play. After the Bengals were whistled for tripping at 6:38, Ellis found the back of the net just 10 seconds into the penalty on assists from her other line-mates.
 
Ellis wasn't done in the second, adding her third point of the night when she stole the possession in the neutral zone and found Bailee Goodon for a score at 17:28. Goodon's notch proved to be the game-winner as Buffalo State would score once more in the third.
 
Oswego was solid on special teams all night, converting on 2-of-3 power-play chances while holding the Bengals scoreless on three opportunities. The most important penalty kill of the night came over the final 1:17, as Oswego played 6-on-4 after a tripping penalty. Buffalo State pulled its goalie to try and gain an extra attacker, but the Lakers nearly scored on the empty-net twice, eventually tying the puck up on in the corner as time expired.
 
The Lakers held a sizable advantage on the faceoff, winning 38-of-59 while also edging the Bengals in shots-on-goal (32-27).
 
Oswego and Buffalo State will conclude their weekend series at 3 p.m. on Saturday.