2017 SUNYAC Championship Final Hockey Guide

INSIDE The Oswegonian

March 4, 2017

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One last shot for senior class

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2016-2017 season stats

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Head coaching respected duel

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HOCKEY GUIDE

One last shot at redemption

Seniors earn another chance to top Cardinals on home ice Andrew Pugliese Staff Writer sports@oswegonian.com

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hen Matt Zawadzki was going through the recruitment process four years ago, he visited Oswego State during Whiteout Weekend. He got to experience the game that gets even students who know nothing about hockey to stand in long lines leading up to the game, then pack the arena and cheer.

That atmosphere is one the coaches like to expose a group of prospective future Lakers to each year in hopes it will bring them to the shores of Lake Ontario. In Zawadzki’s case, it did.

When new players arrive, they are taught that winning Whiteout is important. It is not the same as winning the home tournament over break or a SUNYAC title in March, but it is a rivalry game that matters.

I know what this game means to the town. I know what it means to us being in the championship game, no matter who we’re playing, we’re excited for this moment and it’s going to be fun.”

-Matt Zawadzki senior goaltender

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“I know what this game means to the town,” Zawadzki said. “I know what it means to us being in the championship game, no matter who we’re playing, we’re excited for this moment and it’s going to be fun.”

The seniors on this year’s team are making their last postseason run and they still have never beaten the SUNY Plattsburgh Cardinals in the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena. They have three wins on the road at Stafford Ice Arena, but remain winless at home.

This group made an unexpected Frozen Four run as freshmen, then nearly did it again the following year. It won a league title in dramatic fashion at Geneseo in 2014 and has picked up three PathFinder Bank/Oswego State Hockey Classic wins as well. It even captured its first SUNYAC regular season title this year. But still no

Dominick Lioto | The Oswegonian Matt Zawadzki has not faced the Cardinals this season, but is 1-2-0 in playoff games against SUNY Plattsburgh.

rivalry win at home.

The Laker seniors’ lone SUNYAC title win was Zawadzki’s biggest learning experience during his collegiate career.

The senior netminder has not faced SUNY Plattsburgh this season, but he has played in each of his team’s 13 postseason games during his career. That 7-6 victory at Geneseo when he was a freshman taught him a game can come down to one save.

“That’s my mentality,” Zawadzki said.

“It’s not about the numbers on the board.

It’s just about staying in the game and staying with that moment. If that moment asks for you to attack it, you’ve just got to be there and hope we get in front of it and the puck doesn’t end up behind me.”

The Cardinals 2-1 upset win over the Lakers last month was just another link in the chain as they climbed their way up the league standings during the second half of the season. SUNY Plattsburgh went from the outside looking into the SUNYAC playoffs in January to a first round bye when all was said and done. Now, they enter the Marano Campus Center with momentum and a chance to sneak into the NCAA Tournament.

Oswego State is fully aware of how talented their opponent is. Senior defenseman Sean Federow has complete confidence in his team to get the job done, including whoever is in net. They have to keep the Cardinals shooting from out wide

and not let them carry the puck in deep.

“I think we square up with them pretty well,” Federow said. “Last game was a little bit of a disappointment but there’s mistakes that we’ve fixed and we’ve recognized in our game, and because of that game we’ve become a better team. I don’t it’s going to happen again.”

Since this senior class stormed back in the third period to knock SUNY Plattsburgh out of the playoffs as freshmen, the birds from the North Country have owned the series when March comes around.

They got their revenge in 2015, dashing the Lakers’ hopes of repeating as league champions, then won again in the semifinals last year. All three games were decided by one goal.

The 2017 chapter of the SUNYAC playoffs is the sixth consecutive that will include a stanza between SUNY Plattsburgh and Oswego State. Lakers assistant coach Jon Whitelaw played in the first two, including a SUNYAC title clincher in 2013. He knows this win is big for rivalry sake, but also for making one last NCAA push.

“We don’t want to not face toughest opponents and whatnot going forward,” Whitelaw said. “We think having the opportunity to play Plattsburgh, to play at home, having lost to them at home earlier this season, it’s only going to set us up even better hopefully going forward.”

HOCKEY GUIDE

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Samantha Boyle | The Oswegonian

SUNY Plattsburgh Roster Pos. # Name

Ht. Wt.

Hometown

D 2 Jakob Engvall D 4 Philip Middleton D 5 Patrick Hermans D 6 Evan Lindquist F 7 Brady Pfaff D 8 Antoine Fournier-Gosselin F 9 Antoine Desnoyers F 10 Kyle Hall F 11 Joe Drabin F 12 Gavin Yates F 14 Matt Quilty D 15 Aryton Valente F 16 Pat Egan F 17 Noah Batis F 19 Cam Owens F 20 Cole Stallard D 21 Charles Barber F 22 Jesse Neher F 23 Schuyler Seyfert F 24 Nick Belger F 26 Ross Sloan G 29 Keller Kowalowski G 31 Joshua Davies G 34 Brady Rouleau

6-7 6-3 6-1 6-7 5-11 6-1 5-9 5-11 6-1 5-9 6-1 5-10 5-9 5-10 5-7 6-2 6-1 6-0 5-11 5-11 5-6 5-11 5-9 6-2

Jönköping, Sweden Vail, Colo.

North Andover, Mass.

Amston, Conn.

South Riding, Va. Saint-Lazare, Quebec Quebec City, Quebec Assiniboia, Saskatchewan Rochester, N.Y. Plymouth, Mass.

Midland, Ontario Woodbridge, Ontario Rochester, N.Y. Martinsville, Ind. Wilmington, Mass.

Waleska, Ga. Queensbury, N.Y. Calgary, Alberta Marshfield, Wis. Yorktown Heights, N.Y. Oakville, Ontario Plattsburgh, N.Y. Guelph, Ontario Fort Macleod, Alberta

215 192 191 197 187 190 160 165 185 160 180 180 185 170 175 220 200 175 175 180 150 150 180 185

Coaching Staff 2016-17 Ed Gosek, Head Coach 14th season

291-83-25 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)

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HOCKEY GUIDE

2016-2017 Oswego State Lakers

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2016-2017 Oswego State Lakers

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HOCKEY GUIDE

Coaching rivalry based on competitiveness Emery, Gosek prevail over rest of SUNYAC teams, meet for 43rd time in SUNYAC Championship Final Cole Parzych Sports Editor cparzych@oswegonian.com

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wo figures constantly in the middle of the storied rivalry between the Oswego State and SUNY Plattsburgh hockey programs are the head coaches. Players leave each year, but the two coaches have been mainstays in this competitive relationship, dating back to before Gosek was a head coach.

Bob Emery and Ed Gosek lead two of the top SUNYAC hockey teams each year and are set to bring their respective teams to battle yet again, this time for the SUNYAC Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

Both teams have taken different paths this season, but history repeats itself and the Lakers and Cardinals are set to meet for the sixth consecutive time in the postseason on Saturday. The Cardinals started the season with a 6-8-0 record, but started heating up during January and now find themselves one win away from taking home the program’s 16th SUNYAC title in 28 seasons with Emery at the helm.

“We knew we were going to have some growing pains early on,” Emery said. “Unfortunately, had a little more than we would like, but we had to reevaluate the way we were playing, reevaluate who were playing.”

Like any great coach, they are able to correct shortcomings with a tireless work ethic and unparalleled attention to detail.

A championship occurs at the end of the year, but it starts at the beginning of the year with your preparation and how you do things. And his teams, there’s a reason they’re here again. They’re prepared.”

-Ed Gosek men’s ice hockey head coach

“A championship occurs at the end of the year, but it starts at the beginning of the year with your preparation and how you do things,” Gosek said. “And his teams, there’s a reason they’re here again. They’re prepared.”

Emery has had Oswego State’s number with Gosek at the helm.

Emery’s 23-15-4 record versus the Lakers, including three overtime victories last season, brings a darker side to this rivalry, from a Lakers fan’s perspective.

“I know our fans love to hate him because he’s the coach of our rival,” Gosek said.

There is no denying the success Emery has had during his time with the Cardinals, however. Year after year his teams are primed to make deep runs in the playoffs, similar to Gosek.

Because of this, both coaches garner respect from the hockey community.

“I’ve been to coaching conferences with both of these two,” graduate assistant Jon Whitelaw said. “They’re so respected you wouldn’t believe that they’re just two small New York schools, Upstate school [Div. III] coaches.”

As a young and upcoming coach, Whitelaw interacted with Emery before games while he was a part of the SUNY Cortland men’s hockey program and soaked in all the knowledge he could from the former Montreal Canadiens draft pick.

“I learned so much from him and he’s willing to share that with you,” Whitelaw said. “He understands he was a young coach once himself, and the fact that he is able to open up and share things with me about his program and the success he’s had, just a great guy.”

It is instances like these that keep a solid relationship between the two Div. III hockey masterminds and show that Emery is not the persona he may put forward while commanding the Cardinal bench during games.

“Beyond the hockey he’s been unbelievable to my wife Mary with everything she’s gone through,” Gosek said. “People don’t see that side of him, right.

So, I see that side of him and I know, not only is he a good coach, deep down in he’s a caring guy.”

The fanbases for both programs may not have that same sense of respect for one another, and that is what make sports so thrilling, but as Emery has said, “it’s traditions in all of sports that bring out the best in everybody.”

Samantha Boyle | The Oswegonian

Top Scorers

1. Kenny Neil Neil leads the Lakers in points this season with 42 on the year. Five of his 18 goals have come in the last two games against Buffalo State. Neil was named to the All-SUNYAC FirstTeam at the completion of the regular season.

G: 18 A: 24 P: 42 2. Shawn Hulshof Hulshof has the second highest point total on the Oswego State roster, with 38, and leads the team with 26 assists in his senior season. Hulshof was named to the All-SUNYAC First-Team.

Hulshof started the season with points in six consecutive games and nine out of the first 10.

G: 12 A: 26 P: 38

3. Stephen Johnson Johnson leads all Oswego State and SUNYAC defensemen with 30 total points on the season. Johnson was named SUNYAC defenseman of the year and to the All-SUNYAC First-Team as well. His 30 point 2. Joe Drabin total is nine more than the next Drabin is tied for second in closest defenseman in the conference, SUNY Plattsburgh’s points for the Cardinals, with a total of 20. Drabin is second on Ayrton Valente. the team in goals, with 10, and G: 7 A: 23 P: 30 fourth in assists, with 10. Drabin is the highest scoring freshman forward on SUNY Plattsburgh by eight points.

1. Ayrton Valente Valente finished last season with 11 points in 25 games and now leads all SUNY Plattsburgh skaters with 21 total points, pacing the team in assists with 15 and is also tied for sixth in goals. Valente was named to the All-SUNYAC First-Team, the only player on the Cardinals roster to earn the honors.

G: 6 A: 15 P: 21

G: 10 A: 10 P: 20 3. Cam Owens Owens is tied for second in total points for the Cardinals this season, compiling 20.

Owens is one of two players on the roster to suit up for all of the Cardinals’ 26 games this season. All seven of Owens’ goals this season have come at even strength.

G: 7 A: 13 P: 20

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