Cortland Standard .net

OSWEGO — Junior forward Josh Button capped a three-goal rally with his second tally of the game, and fifth of the season, Tuesday evening as the Cortland-Homer hockey team closed its season with a 4-3 win over host Oswego.
The Golden Eagles won their last two games of the campaign to finish 2-10-1 in the Section 3 Division II American Conference and 7-11-1 overall. The Buccaneers, meanwhile, wound up 2-11 in the Division II National Conference — good for the fourth and final playoff spot ahead of winless Ontario Bay — and are 4-16 overall heading into Friday’s first-round postseason game at Skaneateles.
Button opened the scoring 3:34 into the game with a quick shot to the top right corner off an assist from junior forward Nick Johnson. Oswego then scored the next three goals, two in the span of 22 seconds on 5-on-3 power plays, as the visitors had three players in the box to start the sequence.
Oswego sophomore forward Jameson Simmonds tied the score with 1:15 left in the first before junior forward Noah Lee got the hosts’ second power-play goal 53 seconds before the first intermission. Senior forward Anthony Donabella made it 3-1 with the only goal of the second period 6:25 in, taking advantage of a lapse in the Golden Eagles’ defensive coverage.
Cortland-Homer senior forward Mike May scored his team-high seventh goal of the season with 7:03 left after taking a pass from classmate and linemate Danny Turck, who beat a defenseman to create a 2-on-1. Senior forward John Burhans tied it with his sixth goal of the season 53 seconds later on a power play, taking a pass from Turck who in turn had gotten a pass from senior forward Matt May.
Junior defenseman Clayton Larson found Button in front for the late game-winner after taking a pass from senior forward Brian Ordway.
Senior goalie Tyler Wallace made 13 saves in the game while sophomore Jarrett Dudley kept the Buccaneers in the game with 35 saves between the pipes, the winners with a 39-16 shot advantage.
“We outplayed Oswego, and they didn’t get their first shot until we took our first penalty in the first period,” Golden Eagles coach Chad Totman said. “Penalties hurt us in this game. The officials were calling a very tight game and we made them make a couple easy calls in the first period.
“I was really proud to see that we didn’t give up after getting down 3-1. We showed some heart and had confidence, which led to us carrying the puck, challenging and beating their defense and making some nice passes,” he added.