The No. 2 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team extended its win streak to five as it shutout Nazareth College 4-0 at the Marano Campus Center Arenaon Saturday night. The win came in front of a nearly sold out crowd that was beaming with hockey alumni celebrating the program’s 50th anniversary.
The Lakers wasted no time getting on the board as Andrew Barton scored an unassisted goal at the 6:09 mark of the first.
Just 3:03 later, Oswego was able to put another one away, this time from freshman Mitchell Herlihey. The goal was set-up by a couple of tape-to-tape passes by Bobby Gertsakis and Matt Galati, both of which were awarded assists on the goal.
Oswego was just getting started as it were able to capitalize on a power-play opportunity with just eight seconds left in the first. Alex Botten was able to find Gertsakis near the blue line, who then fed it to Galati for a one-timer that whizzed past Nazareth’s goalie Brandon Lane. The Lakers were then able to take the 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
It didn’t take long for Oswego to heat up again, as just 1:40 into the second period Galati was able to net his second power-play goal of the game. Nazareth’s Sean de Herder had taken an interference penalty four seconds prior and on the ensuing faceoff, Botten was able to win the faceoff cleanly, deep in the Golden Flyers’ zone. He then ushered the puck to Galati for, once-again, a screaming one-timer that beat Lane and gave Oswego the 4-0 lead.
The score remained that way for the rest of the game, giving Oswego the win and continuing its unbeaten record.
Justin Gilbert was a wall in net, stopping all 24 of the Golden Flyer shots and earning his first shutout of the year. It was Gilbert’s second shutout of his career as well.
It was a dominant performance at the faceoff dot, with Oswego winning 48 of the 65 faceoffs, including double-digit wins by Botten, Barton and Mike Montagna.
Men’s ice hockey will look to continue its win streak as they play host to Brockport for a7 p.m. game on Friday.
