PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The No. 1 Plattsburgh State men's ice hockey sustained their first loss of the 2023-24 season, as the Oswego Lakers won 5-3 in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest. Bennett Stockdale (Ottawa, Ontario/Alabama Huntsville) tallied two goals for the Cardinals, whose nine-game win streak to begin the season was snapped on Saturday night.

Plattsburgh State is currently ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division III Top-15 poll, while Oswego is receiving votes.

Stockdale also added an assist to his night, for a total of three points, while Lonan Bulger (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories/Hobart College) scored the Cardinal's first goal and had an assist. Jake Lanyi (North Salem, N.Y./Connecticut Jr. Rangers) had two assists for Plattsburgh while both Tio D'Addario (Montreal, Quebec/Navan Grads) and Jack Ring (Hingham, Mass/Northeast Generals) each registered one assist. Jacob Hearne (Ennismore, Ontario/Toronto Jr. Canadiens) took the loss in net making 21 saves and allowing four goals.

In a game with 18 penalties, the game was a special teams battle, as Oswego was 1-4 on the power play, and Plattsburgh was 2-9. Aided by the power play disparity, the Cardinals outshot the Lakers 42-26 but had several advantage opportunities throughout the game reduced to even play with Plattsburgh penalties.

The Cardinals move to 9-1-0 (5-1-0 SUNYAC) and will head to western New York next weekend as they begin their road trip at Buffalo State on Friday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. Oswego rises to 7-4-0 (6-0-0 SUNYAC) and will next play SUNY Cortland on Friday, Dec. 8 in a league matchup.
A strong start to the first period for Plattsburgh quickly turned into even play for both squads, as an early power play was killed by Oswego to help the Lakers gain some momentum on the road. A power play at the 11:46 mark for Oswego sparked their first goal of the game, as Shane Bull tallied the game's opening goal at the 12:19 minute mark of action. Despite another Plattsburgh power play before the end of the first period, the first intermission saw a 1-0 advantage for the Lakers.

Early in the second period, a turnover in the defensive zone allowed Brock Krulicki to tally an unassisted goal, putting Oswego up 2-0 at the 1:16 mark of the second period. Bulger finally put Plattsburgh on the board with a five-on-three opportunity opening the shooting lanes up for the defenseman, who buried a slapshot from the point to put his team down just one goal at the 4:38 mark. As would be the theme throughout the game, the Lakers would provide a spot, as nearly seven minutes later Daniel Colabufo tallied the score to put the Lakers back up two goals.

At the 18:24 mark, Stockdale scored with a shoveled shot just in front of the crease to put Plattsburgh back within one goal, as D'Addario and Lanyi each picked up assists. However, less than 20 seconds later, Tyler Flack tallied the eventual game-winner with a goal at the 18:42 mark to put Oswego up 4-2 heading into the second intermission.

A Stockdale power play goal early in the third period put Plattsburgh down just one goal but that was as close as they would get for the rest of the game, despite winning the shot battle 14-7, as the Oswego goalie stopped some close shots to keep the Cardinals from tying the game. The Lakers tallied an empty netter to end the game, as Thomas Rocco scored with .7 seconds left, sealing the Oswego win.

Cal Schell made 39 saves in 60 minutes of action for the win, while Tyler Flack and Shane Bull each had a goal and assist for the Lakers.