{"id":10329,"date":"2010-03-06T21:28:01","date_gmt":"2010-03-07T03:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/03\/06\/huinink-mvp-as-oswego-crushes-plattsburgh-to-claim-sunyac-title\/"},"modified":"2010-08-23T11:55:45","modified_gmt":"2010-08-23T16:55:45","slug":"huinink-mvp-as-oswego-crushes-plattsburgh-to-claim-sunyac-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/2010\/03\/06\/huinink-mvp-as-oswego-crushes-plattsburgh-to-claim-sunyac-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Huinink MVP as Oswego Crushes Plattsburgh to Claim SUNYAC Title"},"content":{"rendered":"
Speed kills.<\/p>\n
Oswego came out at full throttle, blowing by Plattsburgh, 6-3, to capture the SUNYAC Championship, the school’s eighth title.<\/p>\n
“I’m proud of our guys,” Oswego coach Ed Gosek said. “Proud of our staff. When you win a championship, it’s easy to forget the people that make it all possible. Last one was in Romney, 2003. It’s been a long time coming.”<\/p>\n
Breakaways, odd man rushes, skating by defenders — Oswego used its superior speed in every facet of the game.<\/p>\n
“I thought we were quicker than we were the last there-to-four weeks,” Gosek said. “Right or wrong, we gave them three days off. We didn’t go out on the ice till Wednesday. They wanted to go, but we said no. Not just mentally to get their heads away from it a little bit, but physically to give their legs a rest. I thought we had that jump back. Especially in the first period, we had two or three two-on-ones, three-on-two opportunities, where we were able to beat their forwards back up the ice.”<\/p>\n
The first goal of the game came on a quick center ice transition. Michael Gilchrist picked up a loose puck and pushed it forward to Luke Moodie, who fed Paul Rodrigues racing across the line on the left side. Rodrigues had Jon Whitelaw on the right in a rapidly developing two-on-one.<\/p>\n
The Plattsburgh defender played it properly, cutting off the pass, allowing his goaltender to take the shot. Rodrigues still used Whitelaw as a decoy and then ripped a shot which flew over Ryan Williams’ glove into the far upper corner at 9:32.<\/p>\n
Oswego made it 2-0 on a combination of speed and grit by the fourth line. Andrew Mather brought the puck into the zone down the right side boards. He fought off checks, kept his feet moving, and eventually out-skated the opposition. Before the angle was gone, he passed the puck across the crease, where Owen Kelly was left unmarked at the backdoor. Kelly easily redirected it into the near side.<\/p>\n
Plattsburgh got on the scoreboard at 9:17 of the middle period. After a mad scramble in front of the goal, the puck squirted out to the left high slot area. Eric Satim picked it up and pushed it back towards the crease. Andrew Willock was there to pick it up, drag it around Kyle Gunn-Taylor, and deposit it behind him.<\/p>\n
After the goal, the Cardinals’ faithful who made the long trip did not have much more to cheer about. Oswego scored three goals in a span of 2:15, the latter two 22 seconds apart, to blow the game open, 5-1, before the period ended.<\/p>\n
“Obviously that stretch in the second was the turning point in the game,” Gosek said. “I thought they had some momentum going. They made it 2-1, and then we got a third one, a fourth, a fifth and things are rolling.”<\/p>\n
Kevin Huinink fired a shot from the left point that found its way through the screen past Williams.<\/p>\n
The fourth line scored their second goal of the night similar to the two-on-one for the first goal of the game. Mather brought the puck down the left side with a teammate to his right, whom he used as a decoy. Mather’s shot went high over the goalie’s shoulder, with Kelly getting the assist.<\/p>\n
“I thought their performance last week and this week was outstanding,” Gosek said of the fourth line. “They did everything we asked of them. They kept it simple. They gave up nothing again. Those guys are the unsung heroes. I don’t know of a lot of championship teams that can expect to get point production out of their fourth line. It makes it that much sweeter because it really is a team effort.”<\/p>\n
Taylor Farris scored his first collegiate goal, which surprised him as much as Williams. Farris took seemingly a stoppable shot from the left faceoff circle. However, it snuck through the five-hole.<\/p>\n