{"id":30202,"date":"2009-01-08T22:59:47","date_gmt":"2009-01-09T04:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2009\/01\/08\/this-week-in-sunyac\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:20","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:20","slug":"this-week-in-sunyac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2009\/01\/08\/this-week-in-sunyac\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in SUNYAC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Accountability<\/h4>\n

It’s no secret that Oswego has not always played up to their potential this year. A season where they are led by a senior class that was the backbone to their championship season as sophomores.<\/p>\n

Some of their losses have been quite disappointing for seniors that should understand clutch play. <\/p>\n

They blew a 2-1 lead against Elmira, losing 3-2. They squandered 2-0, 4-3, and 5-4 leads in a 5-5 tie against Morrisville. They never led in a 4-2 loss against Geneseo. They beat St. Norbert and then turned around and lose to St. Scholastica despite leading three different times. Most heartbreaking of all, the Lakers blew a 3-1 lead against their archrivals, losing to Plattsburgh in overtime, 4-3.<\/p>\n

The straw that finally broke the coaches back was their performance against Hobart in the last game of 2008. Oswego was up 2-0 on goals by Matt Whitehead and Chris Laganiere before the Statesmen scored six unanswered times in the second period. A Peter Magagna power-play tally was a meaningless gesture.<\/p>\n

“We talked about it after the Hobart game — accountability,” Oswego coach Ed Gosek said. “Every single player. You earn your keep.”<\/p>\n

That message was delivered emphatically in the Pathfinder Bank Oswego Hockey Classic championship game when Gosek sat Ryan Ellis, putting Andrew Mather into the lineup for just his third game.<\/p>\n

“It doesn’t matter if you are the leading scorer [or] All-American,” Gosek said.<\/p>\n

Which is exactly what Ryan Ellis is. Coming into the tournament, Ellis was tied for the team lead in goals (eight) and points (18). And Ellis is also an All-American, named to the second team last year.<\/p>\n

“The work ethic has to be there,” Gosek said. “The discipline has to be there. And the execution. If it’s not, there’s five guys out of the lineup every night that want an opportunity to get in there that work hard in practice, that are good hockey players, too. Healthy competition is good. The days of resting on your laurels are gone.”<\/p>\n

The senior class has at times the past two years appeared to be resting on their laurels from their sophomore campaign. Gosek sent a strong message this past weekend he will no longer tolerate that sort of attitude. And Mather helped deliver that message by scoring twice against Augsburg including the early goal at 1:14, en route to an Oswego 5-2 championship win.<\/p>\n

“Our hardest part is finding a way to get him into the lineup,” Gosek said. “We knew when we recruited him he’s a quality player. He’s only going to get better. He’s a great kid. He’s not a kid who complained once. I’m happy for him he got a couple. That will give us a little more depth and adds some guys who can step in.”<\/p>\n

Another issue with Oswego has been their goaltending situation. Senior Chris Hyk has been given an opportunity to play regularly for the first time, but has not excelled to the fullest extent. He was in net for all those disappointing performances mentioned above.<\/p>\n

Paul Beckwith is a freshman who was going to be given a chance, but an injury precluded those plans. For the second semester, Gosek brought in a pair of transfers to try and rectify this issue.<\/p>\n

Kyle Gunn-Taylor, originally from Buffalo State, is now on the Oswego team. Gunn-Taylor played in 18 games for the Bengals during his sophomore year, but was no longer included in their plans this year. Thus, he decided to look elsewhere. Though he was suited up for the Oswego tournament, he did not see any playing time.<\/p>\n

The goalie who did see most of the playing time was transfer Tim Potter from Clarkson. He originally had planned to attend Oswego, but decided on Clarkson instead. When he didn’t see much playing time with the Golden Knights, he inquired about the possibility of wearing a Lakers’ uniform after all.<\/p>\n

Potter started the game against Skidmore, getting off to a shaky start. He also had to leave the game in the third period because of cramps.<\/p>\n

“We really weren’t playing that poorly,” Gosek said. “Our D steps up, hits the kid, our forward losses the guy and he comes in and rips one off the post. The second one, another breakdown and on a deflection it goes in. I really can’t fault him [Potter].”<\/p>\n

Potter got the start again against Augsburg and responded with a strong performance for a full 60 minutes.<\/p>\n

“He was better,” Gosek said after the game. “I think last night the combination of his first game, nervousness, the cramping up, let’s face it, it wasn’t a great start. I wasn’t disappointed he let the goals in, as much as he didn’t seem comfortable. He didn’t track the puck well. He was scrambling to hold onto it. Tonight I thought he followed the puck with his body, moved well in the net, did a much better job. That’s promising. We’re pleased.”<\/p>\n

With Potter and Gunn-Taylor added to the goaltending mix of Hyk and a new attitude adjustment, Oswego may be poised for a very strong second half. A second half that could come down to their penultimate game against Plattsburgh.<\/p>\n

“Our focus is Hamilton here on Tuesday,” Gosek said after the tournament.<\/p>\n

The focus worked as they defeated the Continentals, 2-1, on power-play goals by Kyle McCutcheon and Mark Lozzi after Hamilton scored first. Tim Potter got the start again and made 25 saves. And once again, Mather played in place of Ellis. It’s Oswego’s third straight victory in 2009.<\/p>\n

“[Now] the SUNYAC schedule starts,” Gosek said. “The depth of our league, as you can see from the first semester, is great for our league. It’s great for New York state hockey. Every team has arrived now. Every team is a big game. They are all important. We are fighting for our lives just like everybody else. Again, we want to try to peak at the right time. We want to continue to improve. We take nothing for granted. We respect all our opponents in our league. You have to come ready to play.”<\/p>\n

Oswego now has a two and a half week break before resuming play with all league games the rest of the way. They will have to be ready to play after their rest with a new attitude and new goaltending.<\/p>\n

Oswego Tournament Revisited<\/h4>\n

In its short three year history, the Pathfinder Bank Oswego Hockey Classic has become, along with the Cardinal Classic, one of the two best tournaments regularly hosted by a SUNYAC school.<\/p>\n

I particularly like the goal of the tournament to bring in a western team, a New York team, and a New England team which they were able to do this year. They will do so again next year when Milwaukee School of Engineering, Elmira (for their second appearance), and Connecticut College take part. The tournament will again be held right after New Year’s on January 2-3, 2010, which will be a Saturday-Sunday schedule. The year after that, the tournament will move back to December during the holiday week.<\/p>\n

Here are some totally useless stats and facts from the tournament that us fans always enjoy:<\/p>\n