The No. 5/5 Oswego State men's ice hockey team defeated Cortland, 5-1, on Friday night to clinch Head Coach Ed Gosek's 300th career win. The win moves Gosek's career record to 300-88-26 and the Lakers' season record to 12-3-1, while Cortland falls to 7-10-0 this season.
With a winning percentage of .756, Gosek has the highest winning percentage of all current Division III coaches. The Oswego graduate is also the second winningest Division III coach of all time, trailing only Tim Coghlin of St. Norbert.
Oswego started off the historic game with a bang. Less than 40 seconds into the game, a shot by Devin Campbell deflected off of Mitch Herlihey, bouncing off the ice to fly underneath the outstretched arm of the Cortland goalie for the first Laker goal.
Not even a minute later, the Lakers extended their lead. Thomas Horn intercepted a Cortland pass, sending it to Cameron Berry. Berry went one-on-one with the Red Dragon goalie, slapping the puck past the sliding goalie into the right side of the net. Horn, who collected his first career goal and assist in the Lakers' previous game, earned his second assist of the season on Berry's goal.
Just over 11 minutes into the first period, Oswego tacked on another goal. From the corner of the rink, Aaron Huffnagle sent a pass to Tanner Spink, who rocketed the puck into the Red Dragon net. Huffnagle and fellow sophomore Mitch Emerson each picked up an assist on the play.
In the second period, the Lakers added their fourth goal of the night. Herlihey sent a pass in the air, down the ice to Michael Gillespie, who gained control and put it away in the Cortland goal for his sixth goal of the season.
With just over a minute to go in the third period, Herlihey scored his second goal of the night, an empty-netter. Gillespie earned an assist on the goal.
Goalie David Richer was nearly flawless in the net for the Lakers, making 19 saves for his eighth win of the season.
Gosek and the Lakers face a quick turnaround as they head to Utica, N.Y. to face the No. 7/9 Pioneers at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
