Oswego scored twice late in the second period and held off William Smith 3-2 Friday, Nov. 13, at The Cooler in Geneva, handing the Herons a loss in their SUNYAC women’s hockey opener.
Tara Valas and Sena Hasegawa each scored on the power play for William Smith, which fell to 2-2-1 overall and 0-1-0 in conference play, according to HWS Athletics. Oswego improved to 4-1-0 and 1-0-0 in the SUNYAC.
Late second-period goals put Oswego ahead
The Lakers outshot William Smith 11-4 in the opening period. Katie Demers gave Oswego a 1-0 lead at 11:01, forcing a turnover in the left faceoff circle and beating goalie Mia Iwicki with an unassisted shot.
William Smith tied the game 7:38 into the second period. Valas took a pass from Hasegawa and sent a wrist shot into the upper left corner for a power-play goal. Laine Heiser also assisted.
Oswego regained the lead with just over two minutes left in the period, then extended it to 3-1 about a minute later. Natalie Loncz scored the third goal after intercepting an outlet pass and lifting a shot past Iwicki. It was her third goal of the season.
Herons cut the deficit with an extra attacker
William Smith held a 9-8 edge in third-period shots. Talia Mertens had a chance stopped by Oswego goalie Mia DeVivo just under eight minutes into the period, and the Lakers’ Georgia Cunliffe hit a goalpost at 8:21.
The Herons drew a hooking penalty with five minutes remaining. After a timeout, William Smith pulled Iwicki for an additional attacker. About a minute into the power play, Hasegawa converted the rebound of a Mertens shot to make it 3-2. Mertens and Ainsley Lonczak assisted on Hasegawa’s third goal of the season.
Oswego finished with a 31-19 advantage in shots, and DeVivo made 17 saves. William Smith converted two of its three power plays and killed Oswego’s only power-play opportunity.
William Smith’s next scheduled game was against SUNY Canton at The Cooler at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, concluding its five-game homestand.
File photo: Kevin Colton/HWS Athletics.
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