FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Oswego, the top-ranked Division III men's hockey team in both national polls, rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 4-2 SUNYAC win Friday over the Fredonia Blue Devils.
Shawn Hulshof and Kenny Neil scored in a span of 17 seconds in the final minute of the second period to erase Fredonia's hard-earned 2-0 lead. The Lakers' Matt Galati completed the comeback with two third-period goals.
Ryan Dunn (Rockland, Mass.) and
Todd Schauss (Terryville, Conn.) scored for the Blue Devils, who dropped to 4-5-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the conference. The Lakers stayed unbeaten at 10-0-0 overall and 8-0-0 SUNYAC. They received 34 of 40 possible first-place votes combined in the USCHO.com and D3Hockey.com polls released earlier this week.
Dunn opened the scoring at 5:15 of the second period with a shot from the right wing following a shot off the backboards by
Mac McAvoy (Port Colborne, Ont.), who skated up the left wing before shooting.
Schauss -- who earned the No. 3 star for his solid play all night -- made it 2-0 Fredonia when he tipped in a slapshot from the right point by
Jamie Young (Russell, Ohio). The momentum took a dramatic shift in the final minute of the second period when Hulshof tipped in a shot by Sean Federow and, 17 seconds later, Neil connected from the left circle.
Galati's two goals in the third period were both back-handers in front of the net, the game-winner coming at the 8:52 mark and the insurance goal about five minutes later. The Lakers then took three consecutive penalties in the period, the first two resulting in a two-man advantage for Fredonia. The Blue Devils finished zero of six on the power play.
Fredonia sophomore goaltender
Eric Bogart, (London, Ont.) made 29 saves. Matt Zawadzki had 27 stops in the Oswego net.
Both teams are back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. Oswego visits Buffalo State while Fredonia closes out the first semester at home against Cortland. Prior to the game, the Blue Devils' 2006-07 team will be recognized on the 10th anniversary of their SUNYAC championship.
Doors open at 6 p.m.
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