Nate Askin scored a hat trick for Brockport, but it wasn’t enough as the visiting Golden Eagles fell 9-5 to the Oswego State Lakers in their first SUNYAC matchup of the season. Oswego slowed down Brockport’s offense thanks to outstanding goalie play from Seamus Hand, who recorded 20 saves in the victory while posting an 80% save percentage.
Brockport and Oswego were in a stalemate for the first few minutes of the first quarter. Both teams’ defenses were stifling, not allowing many quality scoring chances.
The scoreless tie was broken at the nine-minute mark when Brockport’s Nate Askin buried a shot in the bottom left corner to give the Golden Eagles the lead. It was the first time Askin played a full game since Brockport’s match against Ohio Northern.
“It felt good to shoot right-handed at full speed,” Askin said. “That’s the thing I’ve been missing.”
The defensive stalemate started up again and lasted for almost seven minutes. There were turnovers left and right being caused by both teams. With almost two minutes left in the quarter, Oswego managed to respond to Askin’s goal when Jason Dongelewic buried a shot past Brockport goalkeeper Gavin Miller.
Brockport then managed to break the tie and regain the lead with 41 seconds left in the first quarter. Garrett Smith was able to score off a bounce shot.
The Lakers began to develop a rhythm on offense gradually in the second quarter. They added two more goals thanks to Corey O’Connor and Connor Aspinall to give Oswego a 3-2 lead. With four minutes left in the quarter, Brockport was able to tie the game back up with Askin burying his second goal of the game.
Although the game was close, Brockport’s offense struggled to capitalize on multiple scoring chances. By the end of the half, Brockport outshot the Lakers 23-3. Oswego’s Hand made 11 saves in the first half.
Tied at halftime, the Golden Eagles needed to bring life to their offense and to stay strong on defense. Unfortunately for Brockport, the third quarter is where the Lakers would take the reins.
Oswego came out of the third quarter and scored three unanswered goals to give them a 6-3 lead. It was the largest lead that any team had at that point.
Brockport didn’t score until there were four minutes left in the quarter. Askin buried a shot top left of the net to complete the hat trick, giving the Golden Eagles some much-needed life.
Any hope of a comeback for Brockport would be crushed by the Lakers’ offense. Just like the third quarter, Oswego scored three unanswered goals to give them a 9-4 lead. Although Brockport was able to sneak in a late goal thanks to Jackson Worden, it wasn’t enough, securing the 9-5 win for Oswego.
With the loss, Brockport falls to 1-6 on the season and 0-1 in SUNYAC play. Askin felt that the offense must try something different as SUNYAC play continues.
“We got to get more dunks,” Askin said. “We got to get more fluent offense. We got to get more on-crease goals.”
Brockport will prepare to host Alfred on Wednesday for their last non-conference game of the season. The faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
