OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College men's ice hockey team suffered a 6-2 setback to nationally-ranked Oswego State on Friday, Dec. 30 in their first round game of the Oswego State Hockey Classic.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 8-4-1 on the season while the Lakers, ranked ninth in NCAA Division III by USCHO.com, improve to 10-4-0. Saint Anselm will battle Williams College in the consolation game of the tournament on Saturday, Dec. 31 with the opening puck drop slated for 1 p.m. from Oswego, N.Y.

Down by a 2-1 margin in the third period, the Hawks dramatically tied the game with exactly 10 minutes to go in regulation time before Oswego State pumped home four consecutive goals.

Sophomore Hunter Brackett (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) got the Hawks on the board as he fired a wrist from the top of the slot through traffic on the power play. The puck managed to find the back of the net for Brackett's third goal of the season at 4:51 of the opening frame.

The Hawks had a great chance to double the lead as senior Andrew Andary (Macomb, Mich.) found himself on a shorthanded breakaway, but Lakers netminder Cal Schell made a glove save on the scoring chance.

Oswego State netted its first of the game at 17:47 of the first period. Noah Bull collected a cross-ice pass in the slot and made a strong move to the backhand, beating senior goaltender Nick Howard (Burlington, Mass.) to even the score.

Daniel Colabufo gave Oswego State its first lead of the contest just 1:20 into the second period. Colabufo collected a pass at the right faceoff dot and sent a wrister into the twine, giving the hosts a 2-1 edge.

Sophomore Max Burum (Marshfield, Mass.) grabbed a breakout pass in the Hawks defensive end and drove down the ice on a breakaway. Burum would fire a wrist shot from the slot that beat Schell on his right to tie the tilt at two at the 10-minute mark of the third period.

The Lakers regained their one goal lead at 13:56 of the third frame when Alex DiCarlo caught a long stretch pass and would snap a shot into the upper left of the goal.

Matt McQuade gave the hosts a two-goal lead at 15:27 of the third when he scooped up a drop pass and drove to the top of the slot. McQuade sent a snap shot into the upper right of the goal to extend the lead to 4-2 for Oswego State.

The Hawks were forced to opt for the extra skater in the closing minutes of the contest and they would attempt six shots with the empty net but a defensive zone faceoff win for the Lakers would set up an empty-net goal for Bull, pushing the lead to 5-2 at 18:58.

McQuade added his second of the contest just 14 seconds later to give Oswego State a 6-2 lead in the final minute.

Saint Anselm netted one goal in two power play chances while Oswego State was scoreless in its two chances with the man advantage. The Lakers held a 27-16 advantage in shots on goal. Freshman Matt Herrick (Jackson, N.J.) led the Hawks with four blocked shots, leading a group who got in front of 20 shots in the contest.

Howard made 21 saves in the Hawks goal while his counterpart, Schell, posted 14 stops.