The Oswego State women's ice hockey team (12-11-1, 10-6-0 ECAC West) fell behind early, but tallied three unanswered goals to defeat Cortland (6-16-1, 6-10-0), 3-1, Saturday afternoon, Feb. 16.
The victory also clinched the No. 3-seed for the Lakers in the ECAC West playoffs based on number of league wins, as well as giving Oswego State 10 league wins for the first time in program history.
The Lakers will host the No. 6 seed, which is yet to be determined, at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 23. The No. 6 seed is dependent upon the outcome of series between Potsdam/Buffalo State and Plattsburgh/Neumann. Both series start tonight and wrap up Sunday, Feb. 17.
Maggie Giamo gave the Red Dragons an early 1-0 lead with her second goal of the series 11 seconds into the game. The goal proved to be the only marker of the frame, as Cortland led 1-0 at intermission.
Senior Breanne Reith (East St. Paul, Manitoba) notched her second career goal with a wrist shot through traffic to even the score at the 11:00 mark. Cortland had a pair of power-play chances at the end of the stanza, but was unable to capitalize as Emma Smetaniuk (Jr., Frankford, Ontario) put the Lakers ahead for good with a top-shelf shot and 10.2 seconds on the scoreboard.
Jocelyn St. Clair (Jr., Cambridge, Ontario) doubled the Oswego State advantage with a slap shot from the left point with Olivia Boersen (Jr., Stratford, Ontario) and Bailee Goodon (Fr., Boissevain, Manitoba) earning assists on the critical goal at 7:50 in the third. Cortland also had an apparent goal disallowed due to a whistle before the puck went in the net at 13:46. Just as in the second period, the Red Dragons had two more power-play chances, but Cortland came up empty.
Tori Trovato (Fr., Fulton, N.Y.) racked up 23 saves, including 10 in the third period, for her second win of the season. Deanna Meunier finished with 20 stops for the home team.
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