In 1990, the Cardinal Hockey Boosters Club began a tradition of fans throwing hundreds of tennis balls onto the ice after the first SUNY Plattsburgh goal was scored against the visiting SUNY Oswego Lakers. There are a number of reasons tennis balls may have been chosen. It is believed that tennis balls were chosen because the Head Coach for Oswego's hockey team was also the school's tennis coach; because tennis balls matched the bright yellow color of the Lakers' jerseys; or because the tennis coach from Oswego State had left to work for Plattsburgh. In 1998, Oswego goaltender Carl Antifonario shutout the Cardinals in Plattsburgh, denying fans the opportunity to throw any tennis balls. This accomplishment led to an Oswego counter-tradition of throwing hundreds of bagels (representing a zero; also said to represent "bird food" for Plattsburgh's mascot: a Cardinal) on their home ice following the first goal scored against the Cardinals in Oswego. The SUNY Plattsburgh tradition of throwing tennis balls at home games against Oswego lasted for 18 years but, following Oswego's lead two years earlier, it was finally ended by school administrators on January 25, 2008.