CORTLAND, N.Y. – Oswego Women's Hockey traveled south this evening to kick off a much-anticipated SUNYAC series against the Cortland Red Dragons. The Lakers came out strong, capitalizing on a powerplay advantage early in the first period. The scoreline would remain tied for the majority of the game, as both teams took turns in the penalty box. A relentless offensive effort from the Red Dragons would earn them three goals in the last four minutes of regulation and a 4-1 win.  

THE BASICS  
 
Final Score: Oswego 1 (8-9-1, 6-4-1 SUNYAC), Cortland 4 (15-3-2, 10-2-1 SUNYAC)  
Location: Alumni Arena | Cortland, N.Y.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED  

From the opening faceoff, both teams came out firing on all cylinders. The Red Dragons gained offensive entry early and kept possession for the majority of the first minutes of play. Despite briefly getting stuck in their defensive zone, it did not take long for the Lakers to settle into an offensive rhythm of their own. Junior forward, Mackenzie Hull, notched the first and only point for the Lakers this evening off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play from Simone Bednarik and Leah Coley at the 7:51 mark. The intensity of the game only heightened, and Oswego struggled to stay out of the box, as they would find themselves killing off four back-to-back penalties in the final minutes of the 1st period. Two of which granted Cortland a 5-on-3 advantage. The Lakers would luckily close out the first period with the score remaining at 1-0 in their favor.  

As second period play got underway, Oswego continued to hunt pucks and shut down the Red Dragons at both ends of the ice. But following Cortland's fourth powerplay of the game, the Lakers scrambled to break the puck out of their defensive zone. An unfortunate bounce off the shinpad of Cortland forward Mia Hlasnick, sent her on a breakaway against Oswego netminder, Lexi Levy. The Dragons would tie it up at the 8:27 mark of the 2nd period and the fiercely even play would persist throughout the remainder of the period, leaving the scoreboard tied 1-1. 

The Lakers made an offensive surge early in the third period but would not be able to capitalize on any of the rebounds or scoring opportunities offered up by Cortland. The scoreline would remain tied, until the final four minutes of play when Fanny Aneborn found a way to breakthrough for the Dragons at 16:44. Despite securing a 2-1 lead, Cortland did not lay off the gas, scoring another goal just over a minute later at 18:06 and then another less than 50 seconds later at 18:52. The Red Dragons would close out the third period with a 4-1 win over the Lakers.  

WHAT'S NEXT  
The Lakers will return home for the second contest of the two-game series against the Cortland Red Dragons. The two teams will face off Saturday, January 27th at 3:00 PM.  

Written By: Matilda Pethrick 

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