INSIDE The Oswegonian
Oct. 22, 2016
H2
Anniversary of first Laker title
H4
2016 Lakers Player Profiles
H6
‘Z’ ready to cap off four years
H7
Preview of SUNYAC
Content and design by The Oswegonian
H2 | The Oswegonian
HOCKEY GUIDE
Reisweber recalls historic run 10 years later
Michael Eno | The Oswegonian
Captain Ryan Woodward hoisting the first ever Oswego State Div. III Championship trophy. Cole Parzych Sports Editor cparzych@oswegonian.com
Follow Us On
@GonianSports @PortCityPuck
T he 2 0 16 -2 0 17 s e a s o n m a r k s t he 10t h a n n iversa r y of t he La kers’ memorable ride to the Div. III promised land. In just his fourth season as Oswego S tate head coach, Ed Gosek was able to bring the first national championship to Oswego with a 4-3 overtime win over the Middlebur y College Panthers. T he L a kers sta r ted t he sea son w it h a n impressive 14- 0 -3 overa ll record. Oswego State then suffered its f i rst loss of t he sea son at t he hands of Utica College in a 5-2 loss. T he Lakers then rolled into the SUNYAC semifinal losing only one more regular season matchup. Oswego State would then meet SUNY Fredonia on home ice. Blue Dev ils’ defenseman, Francois Gagnon, buried the game-tying goal with 1:47 left in regulation. His second goal of the year was enough to push t he u nderdog Blue Dev i ls into overtime against Oswego State. At the 5:41 mark of overtime, the
Lakers were knocked out of the SUNYAC playoffs earlier than expected. Fredonia forward Matt McKeown was able to def lect S teve A lber t ’s point shot passed Ryan Scott on the power play to propel SUNY Fredonia into the SUN YAC Championship to face SUNY Plattsburgh. “We really thought we were going to be winning the SUNYACs, going to the NCAAs,” then sophomore forward Garren Reisweber said. “So, when we lost it was a little bit of a shock, maybe woke us up a little.” Oswego State was given an at-large bid to the DIV. III NCA A Tournament a nd rol led past Nor w ich University with a 3-0 win in the quarterfinal. I n t he sem ifina l against St. Norbert College, the Lakers were able to to tie the game and send this one to overtime. At this point of the season, the Lakers were outscoring opponents in the final frame, 49-12. T he La kers had better over t ime f o r t u n e s a g a i n s t t h e to p - s e e d e d Green Knights. Lakers captain Ryan Woodward was able to bang home a loose puck in front of the net for his n i nt h goa l of t he sea son, ju st 3: 51 into overtime.
T h at o v e r t i m e d a g g e r s e t u p a date w it h M idd lebu r y i n t he NCA A final. The Lakers were heavily outshot all game, surrendering 50 shots to their 33. Oswego State goalie Ryan Scott stood tall though and kept his team alive, making 47 saves against a te a m t h a t w o n t h r e e - s t r a i g ht NCAA Championships coming in. S cot t w a s huge for t he L a kers t hat sea son, p os t i ng a 1 .9 9 goa l s against average and a 19-3-3 over a l l re cord to he lp b ack t hei r championship hopes. “He was able to keep himself really calm and cool,” Reisweber said. “I think that kind of r ubs off on eve r yone e l s e. W he n yo u lo ok b a ck a nd you r goa lie is hav ing f u n a nd digging so much into the pressure, that’s huge.” For w a rd Pete r M ag ag n a w a s able to give the Lakers a 3-2 lead on t he power play in t he t hird before M idd lebu r y resp onded rough ly 1 2 m inutes later when John Sulliva n scored his eighth goal of the year. Oswego State would yet again have to play an extra stanza. This one for all the marbles. Reisweber took a pass from teammate Ryan Koresky that sprung him through the neutral zone and into the Middlebury end. Reisweber beat goaltender Ross Cherry to score the biggest goal of his career, as well as the biggest in Oswego State history. “That move was a move I just practiced a lot,” Reisweber said. “Things kind of just fell in place.” According to Reisweber, winning the first national title in program history did not set in at first. “I was in complete shock,” Reisweber said. “I didn’t really feel like we won it until we were on the plane flying home.” The on-ice production would have never come to fruition without the Laker coaching staff. Gosek’s second trip to the NCAA final came with the result the entire team wanted. Constant improvement and attention to detail was at the root of the Lakers’ trophy-winning season. “He was really good at the Xs and Os,” Reisweber said. “We ran our systems really well. Whether there was a guy out of our lineup with injury, or whatever, it was easy for guys to fill in different roles.” Ten yea rs later, t he La kers’ sole cha mpionsh ip is st i l l d isplayed proudly in front of the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena. With the large senior class pr i med a nd ready to go, t he L a kers s e e m c o n f ide nt t he y c a n re c re ate some magic and make a deep r un in the postseason.
HOCKEY GUIDE
CCHL All-Graduate Team Roster Pos. # Name G 1 G 30 D 3 D D 5 D D 6 D 7 D 9 D 4 F 17 F 16 F 8 F 10 F 19 F 22 F 15 F 21 F 11 F 23 F 14 F 12
Ht. Wt.
Connor Hughes 6-4 231 Ian Andriano 6-1 193 Wesley Ashley 5-11 188 *Jared Henry 6-0 194 Luke Seper 6-7 197 *Antoine Desmeules 6-2 168 William Cullen 6-0 183 Tristan Conrad 5-10 186 Brett Garvey 6-0 194 Nicholas Ngwafusi 6-0 202 Connor Merkley 6-1 194 Andrew Dodson 5-9 180 Dean Derouchie 5-8 191 Jaren Burke 6-3 215 Brett Everson 6-0 177 Michael McKenney 6-0 204 Alex Gilmour 6-5 210 Cole Busschaert 6-2 200 Luke McCaw 6-0 184 Victor Tracy 6-3 202 Tanner Spink 5-10 173 Michael Murray 6-0 180
*-Unavailbale due to injury
The Oswegonian | H3
Coaching Staff 2016-17
CCHL Team Carleton Place Canadians Ottawa Jr Senators Pembroke Lumber Kings Smiths Falls Bears Kanata Lasers Carleton Place Canadians Nepean Raiders Cornwall Colts Smiths Falls Bears Cumberland Grads Carleton Place Canadians Carleton Place Canadians Cornwall Colts Ottawa Jr Senators Hawkesbury Hawks Smiths Falls Bears Pembroke Lumber Kings Smiths Falls Bears Ottawa Jr Senators Kemptville 73’s Cornwall Colts Brockville Braves
Ed Gosek, Head Coach 14th season
267-84-51 record
Two-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year 2007 National Coach of the Year 2007 NCAA Champion Known as a strong recruiter, Gosek looks to continue to bring in quality student-athletes while maintaining the rich hockey tradition at Oswego State. His teams have been active in the community and have participated in campus leadership activities as the Lakers moved into the Campus Center in 2006. His commitment and dedication to the program has been instrumental in the Lakers consistently being considered among the top teams in the nation.
Mark Digby
Jon Whitelaw
Assistant Coach
Graduate Assistant
Seventh Season
First Season
Brockport Graduate Former Asst. Coach, Brockport
Oswego Graduate Former Grad Asst., SUNY Cortland
All-Time Leading Scorers Dave Lair Rick Pratt Mike Snell Sean Fitzgerald Kevin Flynn Sean Green
GP 126 119 131 126 106 116
G
166 134 137 125 94 83
A
186 132 126 111 131 133
PTS 352 268 263 236 225 216
PPG
2.79 (‘79-’83) 2.25 (‘78-’82) 2.01 (‘83-’87) 1.87 (‘85-’89) 2.12 (‘77-’81) 1.86 (‘86-’89)
H4 | The Oswegonian
HOCKEY GUIDE
2016-2017 Oswego State Lakers
HOCKEY GUIDE
2016-2017 Oswego State Lakers
The Oswegonian | H5
H6 | The Oswegonian
HOCKEY GUIDE
Zawadzki poised for final stand
Bad taste in senior’s mouth serves as motivation to lead team to new heights Joe Porpora Staff Writer sports@oswegonian.com Oswego State men’s ice hockey goalie Matt Zawadzki is entering his senior year for the Lakers and looks to finish his career on a strong note. Zawadzki has been Oswego state’s main man in net, posting a career record of 35-14-6. Zawadzki has been a big part of the Oswego State ice hockey team for the past three seasons, making an impact since his freshman year in 2013-2014. His first start in goal was a 3-2 home win against Buffalo State. The starting job became his after then-starting goalie Justin Gilbert allowed five goals in the first two periods of a 7-4 lost to Geneseo. Zawadzki came in during the third period only allowing one goal, giving his team a chance. He would start his career with a 7-0-2 record, winning SUNYAC Goalie of the Week on Dec. 9, 2013 and was named SUNYAC Rookie of the Week for the week of Jan. 6 2014. He would not lose a start until Jan. 18 against Elmira, over two months after making his first start in net. The Lakers went on to win the SUNYAC title that year against top-seeded Geneseo and advance all the way to the semi-finals of the NCAA Div. III tournament. Zawadzki finished the season with 511 saves and a 15-3-2 record while only allowing 2.16 goals per game and saving 92 percent of shots. As a sophomore, Zawadzki would appear in 19 games going 12-4-2. Two of those wins were shutouts against Buffalo State, one during the regular season and the other in the SUNYAC semis. However, the end of that tournament did not go the Lakers’ way, as Oswego State would get edged out by SUNY Plattsburgh 2-1 in the finals of the SUNYAC Championships. They also fell to Adrian College 5-4 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. 2014-2015 was a standout season for Zawadzki saving 471 shots with a save percentage of 92 percent and a goals against average of 2.18. Zawadzki was named Second Team All-SUNY-
Criselda Mapoy | The Oswegonian
Matt Zawadzki is tied with Andrew Hare for the most shutouts in Oswego State history with 11 total during his three-year career. AC and he was also named to the All-Tournament Team in both the Pathfinder Bank and Oswego Classic and the SUNYAC Championships in 2015. The 2015-2016 season would not be as great as the previous two for Oswego State. Zawadzki made 17 starts, going 8-7-2, splitting the starts in goal with Adrian Ignagni for the most part, who went 6-3-0 on the year. The Lakers went on to lose to 4-3 in overtime to top-seeded SUNY Plattsburgh in the semi-finals of the SUNYAC Championships. Oswego state also failed to get a berth into the 2015-2016 NCAA championships.
Going into this season Zawadzki is the number one goalie for the Lakers and looks to take the improvements he has made over the summer and implement them into his play this year. “I just worked on being myself back there,” Zawadzki said. “Last year with the adversity we faced I kinda just got away from just playing like myself. Just making sure I do the little things the team needs me to do this season.” With this being Zawadzki’s final season, he understands what he needs to do in order to make it a successful year. “I know what I have to do in the net,” Zawadzki said. “I know what
the team needs from me, it’s just about bringing them all together and making sure they trust in what I do.” Two players Zawadzki is going to try and bring together are the new goalie additions to the roster, Arizona State University transfer David Jacobson and incoming freshman Cedric Hansen. “We’re [Jacobson and Hansen] working well together building that chemistry between us,” Zawadzki said. “I’ve been used to that here. “I’ve had a new goalie every year I’ve been here, developing good friendships with your guys is nothing new.” Zawadzki will also be developing
Laker Quick Hit
Plattsburgh during 2015 Whiteout Weekend and was a foreshadowing of things to come. The Lakers lost three times to their archrival, all of which occurred in overtime. This unsettling feat After six consecutive trips to the was capped off with a 4-3 defeat in NCAA Tournament, a program that the SUNYAC semifinal game thanks had all of the hype of a national to a Michael Radisa goal for SUNY championship-caliber team fell flat Plattsburgh, ending Oswego State’s with a 14-11-2 record. A slow 1-3-1 start was highlighted disappointing season. This season rests on the shoulders by an overtime loss to SUNY
2015-16 Season: 14-11-2
(8-7-1 vs. SUNYAC)
a relationship with Oswego State’s newest graduate assistant, Jon Whitelaw. Whitelaw is a former Oswego State forward and captain who played from 2009-2013 with four Frozen Four appearances with the Lakers during that time. “When you think about Oswego hockey, I think he’s one of those guys that stands out to everyone,” said senior forward Kenny Neil. “We’re lucky to have him really because he knows what it takes to get there.” W hitelaw has been in Zawadzki’s shoes as a senior eyeing a championship and will be a big help to him and the rest of the team throughout the season.
of Matt Zawadzki between the pipes. Without the competition he had last year, the job is Zawadzki’s to lose. After a stellar freshman season followed by back-to-back inconsistent campaigns, the alltime shutout holder in Oswego State history has no excuses. This team will go as far as their goalkeeper takes them and how much production coach Gosek can get out of his upperclassmen.
Projected finish: 2nd of 9
HOCKEY GUIDE
The Oswegonian | H7
SUNYAC Preview Even with considerable talent at many positions, the Golden Eagles could not break the .500 threshold in conference play, at home,4-18-3 on the road or on neutral 2010-11 Season: (2-13-1 vs. SUNYAC) ice. The Golden Eagles were unable to overcome their kryptonite last season, the Oswego State Lakers. They lost to them in low-scoring games (2-0 on 10/31/15), high-scoring games (5-3 on 1/23/16), and suffered an emberassing 8-0 loss in the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs. The Golden Eagles also lost their steady goaltender, Jared Lockhurst to graduation. In head coach Brian Dickinson’s 20th year, the College at Brockport still has a mediocre feel and they will most likely be fighting for one of the final spots into the SUNYAC tournament. The ceiling of this team may have been hit last year and hosting a playoff game may be out of the question for a while longer.
2015-16 Season: 11-11-4
(6-6-4 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 7th of 9
Despite only having six conferecne wins the past two years, SUNY Cortland has consistenly played tough and is primed for an improvement. The season revolves around a jump in talent and leadership on all three levels under third-year coach Joe Cardarelli. Cardarelli, who spent time at Oswego State as an assistant under Ed Gosek, has experience recruiting high-quality talent and developing them as he did for the Lakers 2006-2007 Div. III National Championship team. Led by junior forward duo of Dan Broderick and Darren McCormick, the offense will look to continue improving, as they have done the past two seasons. Starting goaltender Drew Wiegman, who went 9-10-3 last year, posted a .907 save percentage will have to work with a defense that lost five players, including three-year captain Ryan Wagner.
2015-16 Season: 9-12-4
(3-10-3 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 5th of 9
While this team lost to 7-1 to Hobart, and tied teams like SUNY Morrisville and SUNY Cortland, they were able to come up huge in the SUNYAC final with a dominating 7-1 victory over SUNY Plattsburgh on the road. If their offense, led by Anthony Marra, Stephen Collins and Trevor Hills can maintain their pace, the defense will go over a small turnover but nothing major. Sophomore goalie Devin McDonald, who won and kept the job as a freshman, stopped over 92 percent of shots he faced. All of this together and the Ice Knights will be back to the top of the SUNYAC with potentially home-ice through the playoffs.
2015-16 Season: 18-4-6
(9-2-5 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 1st of 9
After an embarrassing 7-1 loss to SUNY Geneseo in the SUNYAC Championships Final, the SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinals found themselves on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament. Despite tough non-conference schedule and playing in the strong SUNYAC, they finished an impressive 20-4-3 (12-1-3 in-conference) record that saw them at the top five of nearly every poll throughout the season. Losing nine seniors, including their top two defensemen, six forwards and their starting goaltender, will make for a major rebuild. The Cardinals will of course be in the picture as, they always are, but with SUNY Geneseo becoming a national powerhouse and the Oswego State Lakers likely coming back from a down year, a very good team can find itself third in this conference.
2015-16 Season: 20-4-3
(12-1-3 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 3rd of 9
Under an interim head coach and an 0-2-2 start to the 2015-2016 season, the Bengals looked as if they were on another path to notoriety and irrelevancy in the SUNYAC. But by the end of the year, first-year head coach Steve Murphy had his team in second place in the SUNYAC. Buffalo State had an 11-4-1 record in the SUNYAC that was highlighted by beating Geneseo twice and defeating Oswego State for only the 2nd time in program history. The Bengals defeated every team outside of the top four in the SUNYAC, showing that they came and played hard every game. Much of the success of this year’s team will be the adjustments and decisions made by Murphy with how he handled the roster in this conference last year. Fans have to be confident he can do the same again.
2015-16 Season: 15-7-4
(11-4-1 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 4th of 9
After going winless in the SUNYAC in 2014-2015, SUNY Fredonia took steps forward, winning four conference games that added a four-win bump to their record from the previous year. Although improvements are good to see, this team is still a long way away from contending. Still on the outside looking in, a poor 1-6-3 road record will not do them any favors trying to make it to their first SUNYAC tournament since 2013-2014. Nonetheless, improvements from a team that was carrying 13 freshmen is a small success. As that class steps into bigger skates as sophomores they will look to avoid the sophomore slump and continue the ascension toward a playoff berth.
2015-16 Season: 8-14-3
(4-10-2 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 8th of 9
2015-2016 ended with another sub-.500 year and another last-place finish for the Mustangs. Although they had four non-conference wins, they had just one win against the College at Brockport in early November. While they sometimes played close against superior talent, they were not able to breakthrough. The good news is they are returning every forward and all three goalies. Four players had over 20 points last year, led by freshman phenom Danny Liscio with 15 goals. With the SUNYAC being more wide-open, the Mustangs can attempt to climb their way out of the SUNYAC basement and get themselves in the mix for the final playoff spot.
2015-16 Season: 5-17-2
(1-14-1 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 9th of 9
Going into their game against SUNY Plattsburgh on Nov. 21, SUNY Potsdam was looking to make a massive splash not only in the SUNYAC but all of Div. III. However, they fell flat after gaining a national ranking, and a strong 6-0-0 start. A 7-1 loss had everyone halt the hype train and that train began to fall off the rails. Finishing 11-11-4, including going 1-5-1 down the stretch, sucked all the life out of this team and an early exit in the first round of the conference playoffs ended the Bears’ season once again. Without a lot of elite talent, aside from Dylan Vander Esch, this looks like another year that SUNY Potsdam will continue to balance the .500 line. While they have had the Lakers number, winning their past three matchups, they’ve come up empty against SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Geneseo. This team will not be respected by the whole conference until they earn it.
2015-16 Season: 11-11-4
(7-7-2 vs. SUNYAC)
Projected finish: 6th of 9