OSWEGO, N.Y. – Senior goaltender Steven Kozikoski notched his fifth shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory over Cortland in the Semifinals of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship Tournament.  The Liverpool native made 29 saves on the night to improve his season record to 14-4-1.

THE BASICS

• Final Score:  Oswego 4, Cortland 0
• Location:  Deborah F. Stanley Arena, Marano Campus Center, Oswego, N.Y.
• Records:  Oswego 18-6-1 (12-3-1 SUNYAC), Cortland 15-10-2 (9-5-2 SUNYAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Period

• Oswego scored just 23 seconds into the contest when they won a battle along the boards in the offensive zone and swung a pass out front where Alex DiCarlo settled it.
• DiCarlo found himself all alone with Cortland's Luca Durante and fired the shot past him for the goal, his fourteenth of the season.
• Sophomore Connor Sleeth (16) and Ryan Dickinson (10) each tallied assists on the opening goal.
• The Lakers made it 2-0 nine minutes later when Dickinson won the puck in the neutral zone and swung it up to Shane Bull.
• Bull carried into the offensive zone, made a hard cut into the middle to end up right in front of the Red Dragon goalie and snapped a wrister high over the stick side.
• Oswego held a 15-11 edge in shots-on-goal through the opening period.

Second Period

• The Lakers killed off a late penalty from the first period in the opening minute, which ended up being the only power play of the stanza.
• Oswego had a point-blank chance out front of the Cortland goal with about eight minutes left in the period but sent it wide.
• Cortland got behind the Laker defense a few minutes later and were driving towards Kozikoski.
• A diving poke check from behind by Captain Travis Broughman blew up that scoring chance.
• With 3:15 to go in the period, Oswego tried to clear the puck from the defensive boards but were intercepted by a Cortland forward.
• The Red Dragon skated into the middle and fired the shot from about 15 feet that Kozikoski saved to keep the score 2-0.
• Oswego did a great job in keeping Cortland's offense near the boards to hold a 16-7 edge in shots-on-goal in the second period.

Third Period

• Tommy Cahill added an insurance goal just two minutes into the third period when he secured a puck in the slot and fired it in through a screen.
• Mac Lewis (3) and Josh LeBlanc (7) were credited with assists on the goal.
• DiCarlo had a pair of grade 'A' chances in the period with a drop pass from Broughman setting him up one-on-one with Durante, who made the tough save.
• The second was a clearance by Oswego that the Cortland defense tried to catch and keep in the zone but made it over the top to a streaking DiCarlo, but the shot went wide on the breakway.
• Down a man with just under two minutes left in the contest and Durante pulled, Cahill forced a turnover and released Shane Bull into the neutral zone.
• Bull swung the puck out wide to Tyler Flack who scored the empty-netter to conclude the scoring.

Key Stats

• The Oswego penalty kill unit held Cortland to 0-for-3 on the power play.
• In faceoffs, Cortland and Oswego were tied with 34 apiece, with Sleeth leading the Lakers with 11 wins.
• Shots-on-goal went to Oswego by a 41-29 margin.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Lakers will travel to Geneseo on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest in the SUNYAC Championship game.  Geneseo defeated Brockport by a 3-1 score this evening.