PLATTSBURGH -- The Plattsburgh State men's hockey team put itself in the driver's seat Friday night.

Defenseman Ward Smith's goal with 53 seconds left in overtime gave the Cardinals a dramatic 3-2 victory over rival Oswego in front of 2,415 in State University of New York Athletic Conference play at the Stafford Ice Arena.

Plattsburgh State, defeating the Lakers for the second time this season, improved to 10-0 in the conference, while Oswego fell to 7-2-1.

"It was a four-point game and we're now five points ahead of Oswego in the standings," said Plattsburgh State head coach Bob Emery.

"It was a good win for us. But, now our game against Cortland tomorrow (tonight at 7 p.m.) becomes our next important game."

Oswego (11-5-2 overall) took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

But, that's also when the Cardinals began to play their game.

"We have to play our style of hockey to be successful in games like this," Emery said. "And, we were able to do so in the third period."

The Cardinals (17-2 overall) outshot the Lakers by a 17-5 margin in the third and got the equalizer early on when a centering pass in front was stuffed into the net by Eric Satim at 1:32.

Plattsburgh State continued to press the action and forced Oswego into calling a needed timeout at the 4:23 mark. The Lakers were able to weather the storm the remainder of the third and the contest headed into overtime.

Lakers' goaltender Ryan Scott made a sensational save in the first minute of overtime to keep the Lakers alive. But, late in the extra stanza, at 4:07, Scott was screened on the play when Smith sent a wrist shot from beyond the slot into the upper corner of the net.

"Scott is a real good goaltender," Emery said. "We wanted to get the puck up and also get some traffic in front. That's what happened on the winning goal."

The Lakers grabbed the lead midway through the first period, at 10:06, off a two-on-one. Cardinals' goaltender Bryan Hince made the save on Peter Magagna's shot, but Brendan McLaughlin was open on the left side of Hince to tap in the rebound.

Plattsburgh State drew even at 7:12 of the second on a power-play goal by Dan Sliasis. A pass from the side made it to Sliasis on the far post, who banged it home.

Oswego, however, regained the lead, at 2-1, on Kyle McCutcheon's unassisted goal at 11:05. Plattsburgh State was cut in transition and McCutcheon scored from the slot past a screened Hince.