CORTLAND, NY – Domenic Settimo (East Meadow/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders) scored two goals, and
Ronan Mobley (Playa Del Ray, CA/New Hampshire Avalanche) delivered a gutsy goaltending performance, as the nationally 15th-ranked Cortland men's hockey team earned a 4-3 victory over Oswego in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Saturday evening at Alumni Arena. Cortland improves to 13-5-0 (6-1-0 SUNYAC), while Oswego drops to 10-6-2 (5-2-0 SUNYAC) with the defeat.
Settimo's goals were his eighth and ninth of the season for the Red Dragons.
Justin Legault (Oakville, ON/Burlington Cougars) recorded a goal and an assist, and
Nathan Garnier (Laval, QC/Cornwall Colts) scored the game-winning goal for Cortland.
Mobley stopped 31 shots in goal for the Red Dragons, improving to 11-2-0 on the year.
Colby Seitz (Eden/Corpus Christi Ice Rays) had two assists, providing multiple points for the third time in the last four games.
Daniel Colabufo, Josh Simpson, and Collin Vassallo each scored a goal for the Lakers, while Ryan Burke provided two assists. Brandon Milberg made 16 saves in goal for Oswego.
Oswego struck first just under five minutes into the contest after a miscommunication between Mobley and a Cortland defender beside the Cortland goal. Oswego's Brandon Cohen had an initial shot stopped by a sprawling save by Mobley, but the Lakers pounced on the rebound and Simpson snapped a wrist shot into the top left corner before Mobley could recover.
Just minutes later, Mobley made an excellent pad save to deny Oswego's Jesse Horacek from close range and keep the deficit at one. The Red Dragons equalized through Settimo's first goal of the game less than a minute later, as Seitz skated down the left side and sent a pass to a charging Settimo near the front of the goal. The senior took the pass, and deposited a backhanded shot into the top left corner of the net.
Brady Hildreth (Lockport/New Jersey Titans) was also credited with an assist on the play.
The score stayed tied for the rest of the period, but the Lakers committed a pair of crucial penalties in the final two minutes that allowed Cortland a 5-on-3 power play for nearly the first minute of the second period, which the Red Dragons capitalized on.
Just 56 seconds into the second period, Legault tapped home a feed at the left post from
Nate Berke (Williamsville/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) to give the Red Dragons their first lead of the contest.
Johnny Facchini (Succasunna, NJ/P.A.L. Jr. Islanders) also recorded an assist for the seventh consecutive game, and Facchini has 14 points (1 goal, 13 assists) during that stretch.
The Red Dragons committed a tripping penalty with under six minutes remaining in the period, and Oswego was able to score a similar power-play goal by Vassallo to the one that Cortland had provided earlier in the frame.
The final two minutes of the period featured three goals, two by Cortland and one by Oswego, to give the Red Dragons a 4-3 lead after two periods.
Settimo netted his second goal of the game with 1:46 left in the period, taking a pass from Seitz, deking the goaltender, and depositing a backhand into the net.
Evan Beaudry (Mississauga, ON/Kemptville 73's) was credited with the secondary assist on the goal.
Oswego then committed an interference penalty leading to a goal for each team. Colabufo stole the puck off of a Cortland attacker, and scored short-handed with a backhand past Mobley on a breakaway with 51 seconds remaining.
With just 11 seconds remaining in the period, Cortland got the game-winning goal as
Sam Christiano (Buffalo/Buffalo Jr. Sabres) kept the puck in the Cortland offensive zone at the left blue line. He fed a pass to Legault at the left circle, who fired a pass across the goal for a tap-in goal at the right post by Garnier.
Oswego increased the pressure in the third period, holding Cortland to just five shots on goal, while firing 13 shots on goal at Mobley. The junior was able to turn aside all 13 shots, and had the benefit of one Oswego shot that rung off the right post, and another that he saved off of the crossbar.
In the final two minutes, Oswego pulled Milberg for an extra skater, but the Red Dragons came up with two huge blocked shots by
Stephen Kyrkostas (Selden/Johnstown Tomahawks) and Christiano, and Mobley made two final saves in the last minute to secure the victory.
Score by periods
Cortland 1-3-0 4
Oswego 1-2-0 3
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland:
Domenic Settimo 2-0,
Justin Legault 1-1,
Colby Seitz 0-2,
Nathan Garnier 1-0,
Sam Christiano 0-1,
Nate Berke 0-1,
Brady Hildreth 0-1,
Johnny Facchini 0-1,
Evan Beaudry 0-1
Oswego: Ryan Burke 0-2, Daniel Colabufo 1-0, Collin Vassallo 1-0, Josh Simpson 1-0, Brandon Cohen 0-1, Justin Ryan 0-1
Saves:
Ronan Mobley (Cortland) 31 saves (3 GA in 59:33); Brandon Milberg (Oswego) 16 saves (4 GA in 58:18)
Shots on goal: Oswego 34 (11-10-13), Cortland 20 (8-7-5)
Penalties: Cortland 5-10:00, Oswego 5-10:00
Power Play: Cortland 2-4, Oswego 1-4
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 13-5, 6-1 SUNYAC (ranked 15th nationally in Div. III), Oswego (Lakers) 10-6-2, 5-2-0 SUNYAC