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The No. 7/8 Oswego State men`s ice hockey team (22-6-2) dominated Babson College (22-5-2) 3-0 in the NCAA Division III Championship quarterfinals to advance to its fifth-straight Frozen Four. With the win, the Lakers will face University of Wisconsin-Steven Point at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 21 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewsiton, M.E.
Oswego set the tone early, controlling the action the entire first period, gaining two goals in the opening 20 minutes. The Lakers tallied their first goal at 13:58 when they capitalized on a Babson penalty.
Babson was whistled for back-to-back slashing penalties but was able to withstand the 5-on-3 situation. Oswego would not squander the opportunity, however, as Bobby Gertsakis rifled a shot from just inside the blue line. Teammate Shawn Hulshoff was able to deflect the pass past Babson's Jamie Murray to give Oswego all it would need.
Hulshoff's power-play goal was just the ninth Babson had allowed all year, as the Beavers entered the game with a .910 penalty-kill percentage (81-for-89).
The Lakers would not stop there in the first, adding another score just 1:13 later when Matt Galati put a wrister top-shelf past Murray. Galati was assisted on the play by Alex Botten and Nick Rivait.
Oswego had the puck on offense nearly the entire opening stanza, outshooting the Beavers 12-1 in the period.
After the break, Krystian Yorke was whistled for hitting from behind at 3:03 in the second, putting Babson in a good spot to try to cut into the Laker advantage. Morgan Bonner would not let that happen as he hustled after a Babson turnover, corralling the puck in the neutral zone and sending a beautiful pass cross-ice to Brandon Adams. Adams held onto the puck heading towards the right post, eventually moving the goaltender out of position and backhanding a shot into the back of the net.
The shorthanded goal was just the second the Beavers had allowed all season and completed the array of goals for Oswego: a power-play, even-strength and shorthanded score.
The Lakers were just the eighth team this year to be able to put three goals up on Babson.
