Sweet 16! Oswego Extends Winning Streak With 10-Goal Night

The Oswego State student section affectionately named Buffalo State goaltender Alan Fritch "The Dancing Goalie" after the Bengals' trip to the Port City last season.  Last night, the Laker skaters made the sophomore goalie do the shuffle of shame off the ice, potting four goals in the game's opening period en route to a 10-1 victory at the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego.

Freshman goalie Mike Mesaros replaced Fritch following the first intermission, but had a similar experience, giving up six goals over the remaining 40 minutes.  This, after D'Arcy Thomas gave hope to the Bengal faithful by lighting the lamp on a breakaway just 69 seconds in to give his club the early lead.

But Thomas' seventh goal of the season would be Buffalo State's lone goal of the night, as Oswego State sophomore goalie Paul Beckwith stopped the next 14 shots to pick up his sixth win in seven tries.  Beckwith didn't have to do much for the victory; the Lakers defense never let him see more than five shots in a period.  The Cleveland native's GAA now shrinks to a minuscule 1.86 while his save percentage climbs to 93.

It would be Hank Van Boxmeer, of all people, who would ignite Oswego State's offense.  The 6-2 point man -- known not for his speed, but for his lack of it -- surprised the 1,706 fans in attendance when he took the puck coast-to-coast and beat Fritch to tie the game at 1-1 a little more than five minutes into the first period.

Sophomore Eric Selleck -- the nation's leading scorer -- would take it from there.  The 6-1 pivot assisted on three of the next four goals before burying two scores of his own in the third period.  The former SUNYAC Rookie of the Year now has 40 points on the season; he's the first Laker to reach that plateau since Brendan McLaughlin (55 points) and Ryan Ellis (42) reached the mark in 2006-07.

Photo - Jared Crast / Facebook