OSWEGO — The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team did a lot of things right against top-ranked Oswego Saturday night.
But, the Cardinals still came up short in a 3-2 loss to the Lakers in State University of New York Athletic Conference play.
It was the second win of the season for the Lakers (20-1, 13-0) over the Cardinals (13-3-4, 9-2-1) and all but wrapped up the SUNYAC regular season title for Oswego.
"Going in, I wasn't sure if we could outscore them," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery. "But, I knew we could outplay them. We proved we could play with them tonight, but in the end, we need to find a way to win.
"I give the guys credit for working hard. But, we need better leadership and mental toughness."
Neil Musselwhite, on a rebound, gave the Lakers an early lead with just 34 seconds gone in the first period.
But, Dylan Clarke answered for the Cardinals with an unassisted goal at the 6:44 mark.
Oswego, however, regained the lead for good on Justin Fox's goal at 11:36 when the Lakers took advantage of a Plattsburgh State defensive miscue.
When Jon Whitelaw gave the Lakers a 3-1 advantage at 5:53 of the second, that was it for Cardinals' starting goaltender Josh Leis, who was replaced by Ryan Williams.
"He (Leis) didn't make any of the saves when he had to," Emery said. "At the time, it was 3-1 and I could see the team getting down. That's when I decided to replace him.
"But, this is the first time all year our starting goaltending wasn't what it needed to be."
Phil Farrow's unassisted goal pulled Plattsburgh State to within 3-2 at 7:18 of the third, but Oswego held on the rest of the way for the key win.
The Cardinals were hit with a couple of too many men on the ice penalties, one at the end of the second period when Plattsburgh State was on a five-minute powerplay and the other with 1:47 left in regulation.
"I've never seen us get as many too many men on the ice penalties as we have this season," Emery said. "The second one tonight came at the wrong time for us."
The Lakers played undisciplined hockey at times and gave the Cardinals their share of chances on the powerplay where Plattsburgh State went zero-for-seven.
"Our powerplay worked really well — we worked the puck really well and had plenty of chances," Emery said. "But, we didn't finish and that's a lot of the same stuff we've had this year."
The Cardinals also hit the post and crossbar in the second period.
Kyle Gunn-Taylor stopped 27 of 29 shots in net for the Lakers, who were outshot by a 29-24 margin. Leis finished with nine saves on 12 shots, while Williams turned aside all 12 shots he faced in net for the Cardinals.
It doesn't get any easier for the Cardinals, who are at Middlebury College on Tuesday in a non-conference game.
"We've had a lot of adversity this year," Emery said. "We do, however, have to be more mentally tough.
"This is the end of the toughest month I can remember, but we need to bounce back against Middlebury on Tuesday. That's a big game for us."
—
Oswego 3, Plattsburgh State 2
Score by periods:
Plattsburgh State 1 0 1 — 2
Oswego 2 1 0 — 3
First period- 1, Osw, Musselwhite (Dormiedy, Leimbrock), :34. 2, PSU, Clarke, 6:44. 3, Osw, Fox (Laganiere, Selleck), 11:36. Penalties- DeLong, PSU (embellishment), 5:37. Mather, Osw (hooking), 5:37. Whitelaw, Osw (hooking), 9:04. Mallaro, Osw (hitting from behind), 16:19.
Second period- 4, Osw, Whitelaw (Fox. Rodrigues), 5:53. Penalties- Willock, PSU (cross-checking), 6:19. Moodie, Osw (slashing), 6:19. Rodrigues, Osw (hitting after the whistle), 6:19. Grace, PSU (hooking), 7:12. Docking, PSU (cross-checking), 8:34. Rodrigues, Osw (interference), 10:40. Rodrigues, Osw (holding), 14:16. Leimbrock, Osw (5-minute hitting from behind, game misconduct), 16:12. PSU (bench minor, too many men), 19:43.
Third period- 5, PSU, Farrow, 7:18. Penalties- Jobb, PSU (tripping), 9:51. Selleck, Osw (hooking), 10:21. MacLeod, PSU (tripping), 10:38. Rodrigues, Osw (boarding), 16:01. PSU (bench, too many men), 18:13.
Shots on goal:
Plattsburgh State 13 8 8 — 29
Oswego 10 7 7 — 24
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Leis (12-9), Williams (12-12), PSU, 24-21. Gunn-Taylor, Osw, 29-24.
Powerplays (goals-opportunities): Plattsburgh State, 0-7. Oswego, 0-6.
Attendance: 3,000.
