All the Oswego State men’s hockey team can do now is hope for a second life after it blew its third chance at beating the Plattsburgh Cardinals.

The second-ranked Cardinals shrugged off the resilient yet inconsistent fifth-ranked Lakers 4-3 on Saturday to capture the SUNY Athletic Conference tournament title at Stafford Ice Arena.

A penalty-prone second period and a backbreaking goal in the third frame did in the Lakers for the third time this season against Cardinals. It was also the Lakers’ seventh straight loss to Plattsburgh in the SUNYAC playoffs.

“They’ve beaten us three times,” Oswego State coach Ed Gosek said. “I’m not going to sit here and say we’re the better team. They found a way to win all three games. We didn’t. That’s the bottom line.”

While the Cardinals (23-4) locked up an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament, the Lakers (18-6-2) will have to await word March 9 on a possible at-large bid into the tournament.

Junior forward Brendan McLaughlin led the Lakers with two goals. Senior goalie Ryan Scott made 41 saves.

The Cardinals outshot the Lakers, 45-26. Freshman goalie Bryan Hince made 23 saves and was named the SUNYAC Tournament MVP.

Before the Lakers lost their cool in the second period, junior Derrell Levy stunned the house with a slap shot that found its way past Hince just 10 seconds into the game.

Despite the quick-strike marker and a noticeably rattled Hince, the Lakers were unable to build off it and led 1-0 entering the second. Plattsburgh held an 11-4 shot advantage in the opening period.

“I thought that was one of their weaker periods they have played against us,” Gosek said. “We didn’t have much to show for it.”

Things began to unravel for the Lakers in the second period. They took six penalties — two unsportsmanlike infractions — and the Cardinals’ third-best power play in the nation flexed its muscle.

The Cardinals scored three goals in the second, with two coming off the power play.

“We got in penalty trouble,” Gosek said. “Some I thought we deserved, but others I don’t know where they came from.”

Freshman Dylan Clarke evened the score for the Cardinals with a goal with 17:27 remaining in the second. The Cardinals took the lead with 13:15 to go on a power-play marker by freshman Ryan Corry.

Later in the second, junior Peter Magagna (holding) and McLaughlin (unsportsmanlike conduct) picked up penalties at 12:11 into the second, putting the Cardinals on a 5-on-3 power play.

The Lakers killed off the penalty, allowing McLaughlin and Magagna to exit the box and create an odd-man rush that McLaughlin finished with 5:43 to go.

However, a slashing penalty on junior Mark Lozzi less than a minute later put the Cardinals back on the man advantage. Sophomore Joey Wilson buried a slap shot on the power play, making it a 3-2 Cardinals lead heading into the third.

“Us coming out flat and us being undisciplined, that period shot us in the foot,” Oswego State co-captain Tony DiNunzio said. “I guess it was just a mental lapse on our part.”

In the third, Shawn Dennis shook off a defender behind the net and slotted home a wraparound past Scott for what would be the game-winner with 9:50 remaining.

“That last one, the one that really killed us, our two ‘D’ lose both their guys down low,” Gosek said. “We talked before the game that you can’t have that. Those are mistakes in big games your ‘D’ can’t make.”

The Lakers kept plugging. McLaughlin buried the Lakers only power-play marker in nine chances with 5:06 to go. However, the Lakers came up empty in the final five minutes.

Now the Lakers must wait until March 9 to see if they have at least one more game left this season. Gosek said the Lakers deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament.

“That’s only our second loss since December,” Gosek said. “If you take all the other teams in the country and see how many losses they have since December, I certainly think we are one of the top 10 teams in the country.

“I feel we deserve it. If the committee deems otherwise, then we have no one to blame but ourselves for our poor start back in October.”

All-Tournament Team: Brendan McLaughlin, forward, Oswego State; Tony DiNunzio, forward, Oswego State; Joey Wilson, forward, Plattsburgh; Francois Gagnon, defenseman, Oswego State; Nick Rolls, defenseman, Plattsburgh; Bryan Hince, goalie, Plattsburgh.

MVP: Bryan Hince, goalie Plattsburgh.