Torrice Takes Castleton Jobs

Bethany Torrice has left the Oswego State women's hockey coaching staff to take a pair of coaching jobs at Castleton State in Vermont. The Spartans hired Torrice last month to head up their women's hockey and women's volleyball programs. Torrice served as an assistant to women's hockey coach Diane Dillon for the past two seasons at SUNY Oswego.

Women's Hockey Closes Season With 250+ Minute Scoreless Streak

Oswego State women's ice hockey lost 5-0 at Elmira Sunday. The Lakers finished the season with a record of 8-16-1 and an ECAC West mark of 3-13-0. They were shut out in each their last four games. Here is Sunday's game recap.

Women's Hockey Scoreless Streak Reaches 190 Minutes

Oswego State women's hockey lost 4-0 at Elmira Saturday. The Lakers have been shut out in three consecutive games. Here is the game recap.

Women's Hockey Drops 4th Straight

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team lost 1-0 to Buffalo State for the second consecutive day, as the visiting Bengals scored the game's only goal early in the third period at the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego.

Marissa McMullan banged in a rebound at the edge of the crease off a point shot from Mariah Fairgrieve at 1:52 of the third period. The lead held up over the game's last 18 minutes, with Oswego State's best chances coming in the final minute of the contest after goalie Hilary Hitchman was pulled for an extra attacker.

The Lakers also hit the crossbar with a shot early in the first period, but couldn't get any shots past Bengal goalkeeper Shannon Anesetti, who made 28 saves in picking up her second consecutive shutout. Hitchman made 34 saves for the Lakers.

Oswego State fell to 8-14-1 on the season and is now 3-11-0 in the ECAC Women's West. Buffalo State concluded its regular season with a 7-11-3 overall mark and a 5-9-2 league record. The Bengals are currently sixth in the ECAC Women's West and hold the final playoff spot in the league standings.

The Lakers will play two games at Elmira next weekend.

Playoff Hopes Dim For Women's Hockey

The Buffalo State Bengals scored the only goal of the game in the late stages of the third period in a 1-0 win over the Oswego State Lakers on Friday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego.

The victory extended Buffalo State's lead over the Lakers in the ECAC Women's West standings to four points as the Bengals are now 4-9-2 in the league and 6-11-3 overall, while Oswego State fell to 3-10-0 in the league and 8-13-1 overall.

The only goal of the contest came with 4:37 left to play in the third period as Marissa McMullan scored on a wrister from the lower part of the left-wing circle, beating the Laker goalie on the near post. It was an unassisted goal and held up as the game-winner.

Scoring chances were hard to come by throughout the contest with the Lakers seeing two excellent opportunities turned aside by Bengal goalie Shannon Anesetti, who made 20 saves in the game. Laker freshman Erica Shapey had one shot ring off the post in the second period and was stopped by Anesetti on a clear breakaway early in the third.

Many of Buffalo State's best opportunities were off of deflections from point shots, but Laker goalie Hilary Hitchman and the defense did a nice job in front, with Hitchman finishing the contest with 23 saves.

Oswego State was 0-for-4 on the power play and Buffalo State was scoreless in three power-play opportunities.

The same two teams meet again on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Campus Center Ice Arena.

NOW ON AIR: Women's Hockey v. Buffalo State

Benjamin Amey and Cathleen Richards are live at the Campus Centre Ice Arena for tonight's women's hockey game. Tune in!

Women's Hockey hangs Tough With #10 Utica

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team lost 3-1 to Utica on Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego in an ECAC Women's West contest.

The Pioneers, currently ranked 10th nationally in the USCHO.com Division III Women's Poll, scored the game-winning goal with 4:21 left in the game on a power play, and added an empty-netter to account for the two-goal margin.

After a scoreless first period, Utica opened the scoring with 6:53 left in the second period on an unassisted goal by Tiffany Bichrest. The Lakers tied the game halfway through the third period on an unassisted goal by Angie Friesen.

Samantha Rowan scored the game-winner, her 10th of the season, assisted by Jessica Leclerc late in the third and Samantha Glockling added the empty-netter with three seconds left.

Utica outshot Oswego State 46-10 in the game, and Hilary Hitchman made 43 saves for Oswego State. Kelley Peers made nine saves for the Pioneers.

Oswego State is now 8-12-1 overall and 3-9-0 in the ECAC Women's West. Utica is 14-8-0 and 10-4-0 in the league.

Women's Hockey Falls in OT

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team lost 2-1 in overtime to Utica College on Friday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena in Oswego.

Utica's Andrea Maxon scored the game-winner at 2:09 of the overtime period to give the Pioneers the victory.

The Lakers opened the scoring in the first period on Jenna Kirkwood's sixth goal of the year, assisted by Sarah Hannon and Emily Grippin. The lead lasted until the late stages of the second period, when Utica tied the score with 4:48 left in the second on a goal by Lynny Gonzales, assisted by Kelly Bills and Amanda McDonnell.

Utica outshot the Lakers 43-22 in the game, and Oswego State goalie Hilary Hitchman made 41 saves. Utica's Jill Doherty stopped 21 shots.

With the win, Utica improved to 13-8-0 overall and 9-4-0 in the ECAC Women's West. The Lakers fell to 8-11-1 overall and 3-8-0 in the league. The same two teams will meet Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Oswego.

Women's Hockey Wins 3rd Straight

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team won 5-2 at Cortland on Sunday afternoon, completing an ECAC Women's West weekend sweep of the Red Dragons.

Gillian Toneguzzo scored two goals in the game and added an assist for the Lakers, who are now 8-10-1 on the season and have won five of their last six games. Oswego State is 3-7-0 in ECAC Women's West play. Toneguzzo opened the scoring in the first period and Jessica Lister (pictured) scored three minutes later to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead.Cortland scored in the second period, but the Lakers answered with goals from Toneguzzo and Tiffany Duquette to build a three-goal lead.

Sarah Hannon scored in the third period for Oswego State on assists from Emily Grippin and Angie Friesen. Erica Shapey had three assists for the second consecutive game, and Hilary Hitchman made 25 saves. The Lakers return home to the Campus Center Ice Arena for a pair of ECAC Women's West contests against Utica on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.

Hitchman Shuts Down Dragons in 5-0 Win

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team broke open a close game with three goals in the second period and went on to a 5-0 win over Cortland at Alumni Arena in Cortland on Saturday afternoon.

Five different players recorded goals, Erica Shapey had three assists, and Hilary Hitchman earned the shutout with 15 saves for the Lakers. Oswego State is now 7-10-1 overall and 2-7-0 in ECAC Women's West play. They moved ahead of the Red Dragons in the standings, as Cortland now stands at 3-12-3 overall and 1-7-1 in the league.Gillian Toneguzzo scored the only goal of the first period on assists from Shapey and Jessica Lister.

The Lakers scored three goals in the second period. Angie Friesen tallied on the power play assisted by Jenna Kirkwood and Krista Pattemore, and Kirkwood added an unassisted goal. Sarah Hannon scored late in the period on assists from Shapey and Toneguzzo, and it was Hannon's first collegiate goal.

The only goal in the third came late in the period as Lister scored her team-leading seventh of the season by deflecting a point shot by Brenna Weber. Shapey drew the secondary assist.The same two teams meet again Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cortland's Alumni Arena. An online broadcast of the game will be available.

Lakers Win on Kirkwood's Goal

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team won 2-1 in overtime on Sunday afternoon at Castleton State.

Jenna Kirkwood scored the overtime-winner for the Lakers, 1:41 into the extra session on assists from Ashley Meyers and Sarah Hannon. After a save by Castleton State goalie Vanessa Carter, Kirkwood pounced on the rebound just outside the crease and beat the goalie just below the glove for the game-winner.

Oswego State fell behind 1-0 on a first-period goal by Castleton State's Amy Costa, but the Lakers tied the score in the second period as Erica Shapey scored on an assist from Brenna Weber.

The Lakers outshot the Spartans 48-27 in the game and Oswego State goalie Hilary Hitchman made 26 saves to earn the victory.

Oswego State is now 6-10-1 on the season, and has won three of its last four games. The Lakers will play a pair ECAC Women's West games next weekend at Cortland, with games on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 2 p.m.

Chatham Snaps 97-Game Winless Streak

The Chatham Cougars ended yet another lengthy streak of futility against Oswego State Sunday with a 4-3 victory. April Govednik recorded a goal and two assists as the Cougars ended a 97-game winless streak. Chatham had not won a game since joining the ECAC West in 2002.

The Cougars looked poised to take advantage of inexperienced goaltender Emi Williams from the start. Williams was starting for just the second time in her freshman season and making her third appearance overall. She allowed four goals on 12 shots before being pulled in the opening minute of the second period in favor of Hillary Hitchman.

"(Williams) made some nice stops," said second-year head coach Diane Dillon. "But when something like that happens you gotta shake the team up somehow. It was changing the goalie in this case."

The Lakers responded positively to the change. Hitchman stopped all 13 shots she faced, allowing her club to close the gap on a 4-1 Chatham lead. Defenseman Kendall Hanley displayed nifty stick-handling as she scored her first goal as a Laker midway through the third period to cut the Cougar lead to two. Hanley moved the puck up the right wing before angling in towards the slot, moving the puck to her backhand, and lighting the lamp.

Minutes later, Gillian Toneguzzo scored her first collegiate marker to make it a one-goal game with 3:03 left to play. Dillon would pull her net-minder in favor of an extra attacker with just over a minute to play. The Lakers got several cracks at the net, but were unable to capitalize despite keeping the puck in Chatham's end until the final seconds.

"I'm gonna have about 75 more gray hairs tomorrow and I almost wanted to vomit," said first-year Cougar coach Phoebe Manchester. "It's that feeling of either this is gonna happen again, or we're gonna do it. We got the bounces."

Chatham had earned a tie last season against the Lakers to end a streak of 73 consecutive losses. Overall, Oswego State still leads the all-time series 6-1-1. Sunday's loss may prove detrimental to the Lakers' playoff hopes, a win would have tied them with Buffalo State for the sixth and final playoff spot in the ECAC West. Now the Lakers are tied with Chatham for eighth in the conference with each team at two points.

"Hopefully this will be a little bit of a catalyst for us," said Dillon. "This was a real kick in the pants. This is a wake up call for us to work harder. We've got a little over a month left in the season and it's all-out from here on out."

The Lakers return to the ice Jan. 27 when they visit Castleton State. They'll finish the season with eight straight conference games starting Feb. 2 at Cortland.

Ryan Maloney

NOTES:

• Coach Dillon said second-leading scorer Staphanie Esposito missed the Chatham series due to a knee injury suffered in Minnesota. The club hopes to have her back soon.
• The Lakers returned to the ice to skate with the fans following the game.
• This was the second time in as many nights that a lenghty ECAC West streak had been snapped. Top-ranked Plattsburgh lost to RIT on Saturday marking the end of a 39-game unbeaten streak in conference play. It was also the first time the Cards lost a conference game at home since their inaugural season in 2001-02 (43 games).
• WNYO broadcast the game live and you can hear it in the archives in the box at the top right-hand corner of the site.
  

Women's Hockey Earns 1st Conference Win

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team began their climb up the ECAC West standings with a 3-1 victory over Chatham at the Campus Center Ice Arena. Jessica Lister lit the lamp 34 seconds in off a feed from Erica Shapey and the Lakers never looked back. The marker was Lister's team-leading fifth of the season. Defenceman Erica Rossi also received credit for an assist on the play.

Freshman Brenna Weber recorded her first collegiate goal midway through the first period on a writer from the left-wing faceoff circle. Lister was credited with a helper. That would stand up as the game-winner after Chatham's April Govednik scored her first goal of the season to start the second period.

Govednik's shot would be the only one to slip past Laker netminder Hillary Hitchman. The sophomore stopped 26 shots en route to her fourth win in goal.

"(Hitchman) made some top-end saves, some clutch reaction saves on some tight rebounds where we had breakdowns in defensive zone coverage," said second-year head coach Diane Dillon. "Her game has come along so much. She's playing with a renewed confidence and I think it's clear to see why she's out number one goaltender."

Many of Hitchman's saves came with her team on the penalty kill. The Lakers had 33 penalty minutes on the day, including a five-minute major and game misconduct to Shapey for checking from behind. Dillon questioned the official's decision to send the freshman pivot off, but knew why the call was made.

"I'm afraid that's the way the rule reads. Any hit from behind is an automatic. Was there intent there? No. But it clearly was a hit from behind, so that's an automatic ten."

Oswego State was able to kill off that five-minute penalty and were succesful on 9-of-10 penalty kills for the game. The Lakers imorved to 5-9-1 on the season with the win, 1-6-0 in the ECAC West. Chatham fell to 0-16-0 on the year, 0-9-0 in conference.

Ryan Maloney

NOTES:

• Chatham is now 0-96-1 since joining the ECAC West in 2002 with a conference mark of 0-70-1.
• Coach Dillon said she will start freshman Emi Williams in net tomorrow.
  
• It will be Williams' second start of the season, she was between the pipes in a 2-1 loss at St. Olaf last Jan. 13. She stopped 28 of 30 shots.
  
• She also played the third period of a 9-1 loss to top-ranked Plattsburgh on Nov. 9, stopping 6 of 9 shots.
• Coach Dillon said that sophomore goalie Erin Robson is recovering from "some minor surgery" and will compete for ice time when she returns.
• The Lakers are two wins shy of equaling last season's win total with 10 games left to play.
• Buffalo State lost 5-2 to Utica, bringing the Lakers two points closer to the final ECAC West playoff bid.
• Top-ranked Plattsburgh suffered their first ECAC West loss since Jan. 24, 2004. They lost 5-2 to RIT snapping a 39-game conference unbeaten streak.
  
• It marked their first conference loss at Stafford Arena since Nov. 10, 2001 snapping a 43-game unbeaten streak.
• The Lakers are asking fans to come enjoy an open-skate with the team following Sunday's 3 p.m. contest. Skate rental is free of charge.
  

Women's Hockey on WNYO Today

The Oswego State women's ice hockey game against Chatham will be broadcast on 88.9 FM WNYO Oswego at 3 p.m. The Lakers are in search of their first ECAC West points of the season as they try to climb into the playoff race.

Chatham is still in search of their first-ever ECAC West victory. They have gone 0-69-1 in five seasons of conference play with an overall record of 0-95-1. Their lone tie came on Jan. 21, 2007 against the Lakers.

Laker Leading Scorers:
4 Jessica Lister 4-3-7
2 Stephanie Esposito 3-3-6
21 Erica Shapey 1-4-5

Goalie:
29 Hilary Hitchman 3-7-1, .901 Sv%, 3.65 GAA

Cougar Leading Scorers:
15 Allison Papko 4-2-6
18 Jacqueline Regan 2-3-5
12 Kelsey LaHue 3-0-3

Goalie:
30 Brenn Scott 0-8-0, .850 Sv%, 7.04 GAA

Ryan Maloney

Women's Hockey Gets a W

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team got two goals from Emily Grippin and 37 saves from Hilary Hitchman in a 4-1 win over St. Benedict on Tuesday night in St. Cloud, Minn.

The Lakers are now 4-9-1 on the season and return home for two ECAC Women's West games this weekend against Chatham at the Campus Center Ice Arena on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.

Grippin opened the scoring for the Lakers midway through the first period with an unassisted goal. St. Benedict answered three minutes later on a tally by Michelle Eberhard.

Oswego State went on to score the last three goals of the contest. Tiffany Duquette scored her first of the season on an assist from Mackenzie May in the second period, and Ashley Meyers and Grippin added third-period goals for the Lakers.

Women's Hockey Looks to End Skid Tonight

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team finishes their Minnesota road trip tonight with a game at St. Benedict College in St. Joseph's, MN. The Lakers (3-9-1) dropped a pair of games at St. Olaf over the weekend and have gone winless in 10 of their last 11 games.

The Blazers (3-6-0) are trying to stop a three-game losing streak of their own. WNYOsports.com will post results from the game as soon as they are made available. In other WCAC West action today Utica topped Cortland 1-0. Here are the current conference standings:

ECAC D-III West Standings

Team	ECAC D-III West Record	Points
Plattsburgh	8-0-0	16
Elmira	7-1-0	14
RIT	5-1-0	10
Neumann	4-3-1	9
Utica	4-2-0	8
Buffalo State	1-5-2	4
Cortland	1-4-1	3
Chatham	0-8-0	0
Oswego	0-6-0	0

Women's Ice Hockey Swept by St. Olaf

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team continues to struggle. St. Olaf completed a weekend sweep over the Lakers with a 2-1 victory this afternoon at the Northfield Ice Rink in Minnesota. The Oles had lost 5 of 7 prior to the two-game set with Oswego State. The Lakers have now gone winless in 10 of their last 11.

St. Olaf opened the scoring in the game's ninth minute on a marker by freshman Tori Heinonen. It was Heinonen's first goal as an Ole. The Lakers evened things up less than five minutes later on Stephanie Esposito's (pictured) third goal of the season. But the Oles responded with just over three minutes remaining in the opening period. This time it was Heidi Morse lighting the lamp for the first time this season. That would stand up as the game-winner as the Oles and Lakers skated a scoreless 43:15 to the final horn.

The Lakers fall to 3-9-1 on the season. They'll play at St. Benedict on Tuesday night before returning home for a two-game ECAC West match-up with Chatham Jan. 19 and Jan. 20. You can catch both of those games on 88.9 FM WNYO beginning at 3 P.M.

Ryan Maloney

Neumann beats Lakers 5-1

The Oswego State women's ice hockey team lost 5-1 on Sunday afternoon against Neumann College in Aston, Pa. The lone Oswego State goal was scored by Jenna Kirkwood, in the third period, on an assist from Stephanie Esposito.

After a scoreless first period, the Knights scored twice in the second to take the lead, with a goal just 1:15 into the period and then another in the last minute of the middle period.

Laker goalie Hilary Hitchman made 50 saves in the contest, and Oswego State is now 2-6-1 on the year and 0-6-0 in ECAC Women's West play. The Lakers will return to action after the new year at the Codfish Bowl hosted by UMass-Boston on Jan. 5-6.

Oswego State Sports Information

Laker ladies lose at Neumann

The Oswego State Lakers women's ice hockey team lost 4-3 to Neumann Saturday night at the Ice Works Arena in Aston, Pa. The Lakers led on three separate occasions despite being outshot 51-24. Neumann also spent less time in the penalty box, committing only two infractions the entire game. Sophomore goalie Hilary Hitchman stopped 47 shots in the losing effort.

Sophomore Mackenzie May (Syracuse) scored her first two goals of the season. The first marker put the Lakers up 2-1 in the sixth minute of the second period. The Knights tied it up just over a minute later off a goal from Kristin Gauthier. May answered back just 26 seconds later on the power play with her second tally to put the Lakers ahead 3-2.

The Knights would tie the game at 3-3 midway through the second period on Janelle Marier's first goal of the season. Robyn Armstrong then scored the game-winner in the seventh minute of the third period. It was the sophomore defenseman's team-leading third goal of the season.

Freshman Emily Grippin recorded her second collegiate goal in the game's 16th minute on the shorthand to give the Lakers their first lead at 1-0. The win snapped the Knights five-game winless streak while stretching Oswego State's to six. Overall, the Lakers are 2-5-1 on the season, 0-5-0 in ECAC West play. They'll play at Neumann once again on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Ryan Maloney

6:25 left to play; Lakers 1 Cortland 0

Game Summary

• Hilary Hitchman 18 saves
• Jessica Lister goal at 0:30
• Her second on the season
• Teams are a combined 0-7 on the power play