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In a contest where defense was the name of the game, the Oswego River Hawks edged the hometown Utica Yeti 9-6 on Friday night at the Nexus Center.
The win brought Oswego’s divisional record to 3-1, while the Yeti dropped to 1-4.
The Yeti jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, but Pavel Srch put Oswego on the board on an assist from Dylan Smith with just over four minutes remaining in the first frame. Oswego’s Jack Rice scored an unassisted goal just a minute later to even the score at 2-2, and that was the score when time expired/
The River Hawks dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Yeti 4-1 behind goals from Nate Schultzkie (from Smith), Emmet Starowicz (from Owen Spearing), Rice (unassisted), and Starowicz again (from Brian Witmer). With a 6-3 halftime score, Oswego’s Josef Slavik had 15 saves while Utica’s Mario Diaz had an outstanding 25.
Oswego edged the Yeti 2-1 in the third quarter, behind goals unassisted from Trevor Jones and Srch, and the River Hawks led 8-4. Utica managed to score twice in the final quarter, while Oswego only scored once – Srch scored his third for a hat trick on an impressive goal from behind the Yeti goal.
Slavik finished with 31 saves (84%) while Diaz recorded 35 saves (80%). The River Hawks went 3-for-8 on the power play, while the Yeti were 0-for-7.
Oswego will complete its regular season schedule this weekend with two games on the road. They’ll travel up to Alex Bay on Friday to play the undefeated Thousand Island Spirits at 7 :30 PM and then trek down to Geneva on Saturday night to play the Seneca Lake Serpents, also at 7:30. Divisional playoffs are set for Friday, July 26 with the top two teams hosting semi-finals. Winners from Friday will play for the championship on Sunday, July 28 for a berth in the NABLL national championship, set for the Nexus Center August 23-25.
