Oswego, N.Y. - Erin Robson (pictured) occupied the net for the first time since Dec. 5 as Oswego State played host to Division I Sacred Heart Saturday at the Campus Center. The junior played a stellar 60 minutes between the pipes, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Lakers from dropping their third straight game, 4-3.The Pioneers cracked the board early as defenseman Brittany Hartman snuck a shot from the high slot under Robson's pads. The weak goal gave Sacred Heart a 1-0 lead less than a minute in, but it also seemed to spark Robson. The backstop made nearly 30 consectutive saves over the next 40 minutes, allowing her teammates enough time to get two markers of their own: Jenna Kirkwood and Jessica Lister each scored their second goal of the season on second period power plays. The Lakers made their way to the dressing room with a hot goaltender, efficient special teams play, and a one-goal lead.
The momentum would leave Oswego State's side in the third when defenseman Ashley Meyers went to clear the puck from deep in her own end. Meyers picked the puck up in the right wing corner and tried to send it up the boards. Instead, she fed it right to Pioneer forechecker Jamie Mey who promptly slid a flat pass across ice to Gina Arnone who one-timed it bast Robson, 2-2.
Undeterred, the Lakers looked as though they would take the lead just three minutes later when Angie Friesen secured a takeaway and the Pioneer end and centered the puck for Erica Shapey. The pass sailed wide of Shapey's stick and was deflected out to the clue line where it hit Lauren Fontain right on the tape. Sacred Heart's leading scorer quickly raced down ice and buried a backhanded breakway shot inside the left post to give the Pioneers a 3-2 lead.
The Campus Center crowd of 167 Laker faithful would be silenced midway through the period as Sacred Heart took a two-goal lead. Taryn Lapiere sped up the right wing after a clean defensive-zone faceoff win and rifled a wrister over the shoulder of Robson. It was the third goal in a span of 6:41 for the Pioneers as Robson's hot streak had evidently cooled.
But Oswego State wasn't content to let the visitors make the 300-mile drive back to Faiffield, Ct. with a weekend sweep. Freshman Jillian Bergeron sent a wrister on net, which Pioneer goalie Amanda Nagel stopped easily. However, Nagel couldn't hold the puck and let it fall at the left post. That's when Kirkwood began to dig, poke, and push at the puck, sending it just over the red line for her second goal of the night. The Lakers were back within a goal at 4-3.
Kirkwood's marker put Oswego State in a position to add the extra attacker in the final minute of regulation. Robson finally made her way to the bench with 13 seconds remaining as the Lakers made their way into the Sacred Heart zone.
Freshman defenseman Kathryn Sbrochi had the best chance to force overtime, moving around a defender at the left point and moving into the high slot. Her shot deflected off of Nagel and came down in the crease, but the rookie backstop made a veteran move and laid flat on her back, freezing the puck underneath her with 2.8 seconds on the clock. The Pioneers won the ensuing faceoff to send Oswego State (5-8-1, 2-5-1) to their seventh straight home loss.
The Lakers will return to ECAC West play this weekend for a pair of games at Chatham. Oswego State is currently in seventh place of the conference standings, one point out of the final playoff spot.
Ryan Maloney
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