OSWEGO, N.Y. – Oswego Women's hockey hosted the SUNY Potsdam Bears this evening on Teddy Bear Toss night in The Deb. Looking to remain undefeated in the conference, the Lakers came out ready to dominate in their first SUNYAC matchup of the weekend. A connected effort by the Lakers in the opening minutes would be diminished by a short-handed goal by the Bears just before the halfway mark of the first. An equalizer goal by Tilly Pethrick just 2:27 into the 2^nd period would unleash the teddy bears from the stands and would be the only tally added to the scoreboard in the second frame. Oswego would regain their energy on offense and mount a lead in the final moments of the 3^rd period, pulling away from the evening with a dominant 4-1 victory over the Potsdam Bears.  
 
THE BASICS   

Final Score:  
Oswego 4 (6-0-1, 4-0-1 SUNYAC) 
Potsdam 1 (3-3-1, 0-3-1 SUNYAC) 
 
Location: Deborah F. Stanley Arena | Oswego, N.Y.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED  
 
A connected start for the Lakers would be diminished by a short-handed goal scored by Potsdam forward Rebecca Holmes at the 7:51 mark of the first period. As play returned to even strength, the Bears used this offensive momentum to their advantage, putting a compilation of shots on veteran goaltender Lexi Levy. Oswego would return some shots of their own, but none would fall their way, ending the 1^st period trailing 1-0 to Potsdam.  
After a brief intermission, Oswego was determined to even the scoreboard and unleash the shower of teddy bears hidden in the stands and did just that. A low slapshot from sophomore Tilly Pethrick would find the bottom left corner past the left pad of Bears netminder Magalia Parent just 2:27 into the 2^nd period. Play would be stopped momentarily while the Lady Lakers cleaned 126 plush toys off the ice. A back-and-forth effort from both teams would leave the scoreline tied 1-1 heading into the final period of regulation.  
 
Graduate student Jayden Kelley would win the final opening faceoff, giving the Lakers immediate access to Potsdam's zone. A hungry Laker offense tested Parent with a handful of back-to-back scoring opportunities, but nothing would breakthrough until a deceptive pass from first year Solana Zizzo found the stick of senior forward Simone Bednarik who would net a second goal for Oswego over the right shoulder of Parent at the 14:48 mark. First year Sydney Pinti would follow Bednarik's 3^rd period scoring effort, extending the Lakers' lead to 3-1 with her first collegiate goal just less than 2 minutes later at 16:11. Despite their growing lead, Oswego kept the pressure on until the final buzzer. Senior Ashlyn McGrath capped off the evening by adding a fourth and final empty-net goal to the score sheet with just 0:34 seconds left on the clock.  
 
Tonight, the Lakers raised $283 dollars for toys for tots and collected 126 teddy bears as well! 
 
WHAT'S NEXT  
Oswego Women's hockey will have a quick turnaround, as they will travel to Buffalo, N.Y. tomorrow December 7^th, for their second SUNYAC competition of the weekend against the Buffalo State Bengals. Puck drop is set to begin at 3:00PM in the Buffalo State University Ice Arena.