The Oswego State women's ice hockey team suffered its first conference defeat of the 2014-15 campaign with a 3-1 loss to Cortland in the Marano Campus Center Arena on Saturday afternoon. Oswego's record fell to 2-2-0 overall and 1-1-0 in ECAC West play after the weekend split with the Red Dragons. Cortland's record mirrors the Lakers' after Saturday's victory.
Oswego's lone goal came in the waning minutes of regulation as Bailee Goodon sent home a shot after passes from Brennan Butler and assistant captain Lizzy Marks. The goal came at 16:04 of the third period and was Goodon's first of the year.
In the first period, Oswego dodged two bullets but could not escape the third. Immediately following Jayme McCreary being whistled for cross-checking, the Red Dragons seemed to have capitalized but a shot hit the left post and danced along the goal-line but never crossed. Moments later, after Oswego killed the penalty, Cortland thought it scored again but the referee ruled the puck had been frozen by Tori Trovato before it was forced into the net.
With a 1:13 remaining in the first period, the Lakers' luck ran out as a turnover in their defensive zone led to a Red Dragon goal from Madison Fischl. It was the first goal Trovato had given up in nearly 140 minutes after recording back-to-back shutout victories.
Heading into the second, Oswego swapped goalies to freshman Mariah Madrigal. Madrigal made seven saves in the period but could not avoid damage. In the waning minutes, Gwen Paul notched a score off assists from Kaitlyn Ryan and Katie Gili.
Earlier in the period, Oswego had two power-play opportunities that came up just short. Just before the Red Dragons' second goal, the Lakers went on a 2-on-1 break as the Cortland penalty expired. Lydia Cosgrove fired a shot from the right side that Deanna Meunier turned away. Erika Truschke was near the end line by the left post and collected the rebound. She lifted a shot towards an opening behind the goalie but it caught the wrong side of the post, going just wide.
The opening 10 minutes of the final period were action packed beginning with a third Red Dragon tally. Cortland's Ally Miller rebounded a saved teammate's shot and put a shot top-shelf at 5:16.
With less than 13 minutes remaining, the Lakers seemed to cut the deficit to two as Lydia Cosgrove buried a score. The referee waved off the goal as the play was whistled dead prior to the score for a Cortland cross-checking penalty. Oswego recorded two shots during the power play but were unable to find the back of the net.
Mariah Madrigal made 12 saves over the final two periods for Oswego while Trovato stopped seven shots in the first period after starting the contest.
As a team, Oswego outshot Cortland 33-22 on the day but were unable to cash in on a power play, going 0-for-4.
The Lakers will look to get back in the win column at 3 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to face conference-foe Utica College. Oswego will host the Pioneers the following day at 3 p.m. as well.
