OSWEGO — Hockey in Oswego started Saturday afternoon with a game featuring Women’s Hockey and the London Junior Devilettes. This match up would be the first of two exhibition games the Lakers would play before the start of their regular season in two weekends. All though the team would fall to London 4-0, the group laid down steady work that can be improved on in the coming weeks. The Devilettes would put only one goal past senior Rachael Farmer in 14 shots in the first period. Tia Trovato, freshman goalie, would allow three goals in the third period despite a 10 save effort. Women’s hockey looks to move on into one last exhibition game Saturday against William Smith. Puck drop will be at 3 p.m. at the Marano Campus Center.
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Men’s basketball finishes the season with two wins
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball team finished their season this past weekend. Having already clinched the first seed for the SUNYAC tournament, these games were just momentum builders for the tournament. The Lakers were set to play the Brockport Golden Eagles and Fredonia Blue Devils, both games at home.
Friday night’s game against Brockport started close, 8-7 after five minutes. Then Oswego found their rhythm, a 13-0 run saw the lead jump to 21-8 with thirteen minutes left in the half. Jamal Achille made it a twenty point lead with just under four minutes remaining, 39-19. The Lakers biggest lead in the half was twenty-four with fifty seconds remaining, and by the end of the half Brockport closed the lead slightly to 49-29. The Golden Eagles attempted to bring it back multiple times in the second half, but Oswego always answered. Brockport got the deficit to seventeen with just under fourteen minutes left, and the smallest gap in the second half, fifteen, with nine and a half to go in the game. Oswego reached eighty points with three minutes to go in the game on an Ahkee Anderson free throw, and from there the reserves checked in to finish the game. Oswego scored three more times after Anderson‘s free throws and won the game 87-63. Five Lakers found double digit scoring in the game, Ahkee Anderson (16), Jamal Achille (16), Devin Green (13), Julien Crittendon (12), and Christian Simmons (11). Green also added ten rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
The final game of the season was against the Fredonia Blue Devils. Before the game stared the Lakers recognized their seven seniors, Brendon Mulson, Christian Simmons, Eric Sanfilippo, Jordan Brown, Hunter Cole, Julien Crittendon, Louis Fedullo. Simmons, Sanfilippo, Cole, Crittendon, and Fedullo were the starters for the game, while Mulson and Brown were the first two off the bench. Christian Simmons stole the show early, he hit two three and had two layups for the Lakers first ten points while the Blue Devils only had six just three minutes into the game. An 11-0 Lakers run behind four from Jordan Brown and Jeremiah Sparks saw the lead get to 21-6 with thirteen to go in the half. Oswego kept pushing the gap with the lead 27-10 after a Kaleb Cook layup with ten to go in the frame. Just under the seven minute mark was when Oswego reached the forty point mark on a Julien Crittendon three, and the lead was twenty-five. Another nine from the Lakers and ten from the Blue Devils before the end of the half saw both teams head to the locker rooms, Oswego up 49-25. Simmons started the second half exactly where he started the first, he had twelve points in the first five minutes of the half, and Oswego’s advantage ballooned to thirty-four, 67-33. Oswego reached eighty on an Ahkee Anderson jumper with eleven and a half to go. The biggest play of the game came with nine minutes remaining, Jordan Brown tipped a three point attempt by Fredonia’s Aaron Collins, Jamal Achille grabbed the ball and threw it up court to a wide open Brown who slammed it down with one hand to extend the lead to 84-37. With seven to go, the Lakers reserves checked in to finish the regular season. They got Oswego over the century mark for the fourth time this season and second time this month and Oswego walked away victorious in their final game, 104-55. Christian Simmons led the Lakers with his season high twenty-four points. Two other Lakers went were over ten, Julien Crittendon (12) and Jeremiah Sparks (11). Sixteen Lakers found the score sheet.
Oswego finished the season with a record of 23-2 (17-1 SUNYAC). They hold the first seed in the conference and will host both semi-final matchups and the finals for the SUNYAC tournament starting Friday. WTOP10 will have coverage of all games played on Oswego’s campus.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DIANA VITALE, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Oswego Buccaneers season ends in first round of Sectionals
CORTLAND, NY — Oswego High School Hockey went on the road last Thursday for the first round of Sectionals for Division II. The Buccaneers were the fifth seed and traveled to Cortland to face off against the fourth seed, Cortland-Homer. The Golden Eagles would take the 8-2 and move on into the semi final round. Oswego’s two goals would come from Brayden Miller and Adam Michalski along with Carson Colucci tallying an assist. Brandon Demling would make 26 saves even though the goaltender would give up eight goals in the contest. The Bucs would be outshoot by the Golden Eagles 34 to 32 as the Cortland-Homer netminder would make 30 saves.
This ends Oswego’s season as the group finished 11-10 overall. The Buccaneers are graduating a total of nine players this year, four defenseman and five forwards. All three goaltenders will stay with the team which is good news moving forward for the group. Cortland-Homer will move on to face Skaneateles as the Golden Eagles will travel there on Wednesday for the second semi final game for Division II.
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Oswego State athletes earn academic honors
OSWEGO, NY ━ Over the past couple of weeks, Oswego State teams and student athletes have been rewarded with academic honors from organizations in their given sport. These awards were given out by national associations that are highlighting the work of collegiate athletes inside the classroom instead of on the field, track, ice, or court during the 2019-2020 seasons. Most of these groups are made up of college coaches across the United States that make these requirements for the honors.
On July 29th, the women’s volleyball team received the Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). This honor is given to volleyball teams that hold a grade point average of 3.30 on a 4.0 scale over the course of a whole academic year. The Lakers, who finished with a 3.43 team grade point average, were one of eight SUNYAC teams out of the ten institutions to receive the honor from this past year. This is their second time receiving the honor in the past three seasons under head coach JJ O’Connell.
The Oswego State indoor women’s track and field team was honored with the All-Academic Award for their achievements in the classroom during the 2019-2020 academic year. The Lakers received the award from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for having a team grade point average of 3.21 which is above the 3.1 benchmark set by the organization. The team was one of four SUNYAC institutions to receive the honor, and one of 209 colleges nationally. Senior Catarina Burke received the All-Academic Award individually as the athlete qualified for the 2020 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in high jump along with having a grade point average above a 3.30 during the semester.
On July 23rd, the National Association of Basketball Coaches released the student athletes that would be getting named to the 2019-20 Honors Court. This award is given out to men’s basketball players who exceed a grade point average of 3.2 at the end of their 2018-19 academic year. Seniors Tim Marshall and Brandan Gartland, along with junior Liam Sanborn were all named to the Honors Court. This is the second time for both seniors as the pair were awarded the honor in 2018-19. This is the team’s second time in two years with three players being named to the prestigious group.
The men’s golf team also received academic honors from last season as two players were named All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Senior Eric Schliecher and sophomore Ryan Fecco both received the awards after meeting the criteria of having a career grade point average above 3.2 and having a stroke average under 79.0. These two individuals helped the team to three tournament wins and a third place finish in the Fall Empire 8 Championship.
Two players from the Oswego State women’s ice hockey team were recently selected by the American Hockey Coaches Association for the All-American Scholar award. On August 17th, the AHCA announced that seniors Kate Randazzo and Eryn Stewart received the honors after exceeding a 3.75 GPA the fall semester. These accolades put the finishing touches on two historic careers for the two graduates. Randazoo finished second on the Oswego career assists list and in the top-10 in total points, along with being a two year captain for the Lakers. Stewart would conclude her collegiate career inside the top-10 in points, goals, and assists. The women’s hockey team finished 16-7-4 this past season and lost to Plattsburgh in the Northeast Women’s Hockey League Championship.
Congratulations to all the student athletes who received these academic honors along with the Oswego State teams that received overall academic awards. WTOP 10 will continue to update Oswego fans on the continuing development of COVID-19 and how it affects the Oswego State Lakers.
