OSWEGO, NY — The Oswego Boys Buccaneers Hockey team wrapped up their 2021 season Saturday evening against the Watertown IHC Cavaliers. Oswego would win in dominating fashion as the Buccaneers would take the victory 6-1 over the Cavaliers. The Bucs would open the scoring in the first period as forward Brayden Miller tallied three goals in the stanza. Miller would not be stopped in the second period as the Buccaneer added another to finish with four goals in the game. Miller would finish with 14 goals over the course of the season and lead the team in that category. Lukas Cady would add another to the Oswego total in the second period with a short handed goal. During the third period, Oswego goaltender Brandon Demling continued to play well in between the pipes and only allowed one goal over the course of the whole game. Senior captain Adam Michalski would score an empty net goal to wrap up the contest.
Oswego improved to 8-8 and would end on a high note after losing the last two contests inside the Crisafulli Ice Rink. The Buccaneers were able to have an impressive record after facing Division I teams all season long. Oswego was able to go on the road and string together four wins after starting 3-6. The coaching staff and the rest of the team head into the off season graduating five seniors. This wraps up WTOP 10’s coverage of the Oswego Boys Buccaneers Hockey team as their 2021 season has concluded.
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NYSPHSAA Releases Guidelines for Upcoming Season
OSWEGO, NY — On July 16th, The New York State Public High School Athletic Association announced changes to how high school athletics will work in the 2020-21 season. This statement comes as schools across New York State prepare for public schooling to reopen for the new school year. After the cancellation of the Spring 2020 season last year, there has been many questions revolving around high school athletics heading into this coming season.
The decision made by the Officers of the NYSPHSAA included a few changes along with guidelines on how schools/teams should prepare moving forward. The first being the start of the Fall sports season being moved to September 21st, which was supposed to begin on August 24th. The NYSPHSAA President, Paul Harrica, stated that this date would be unrealistic due to the current threats of COVID-19. Another major change is the cancellation of all Fall Regional and State Championship events. This is change was obviously made to decrease traveling between sports teams as teams from different sections around the state would travel to one central location to play the final games of the season. Minor adjustments and recommendations were also stated. For instance, the group has waived the seven-day practice rule, encouraged geographic scheduling for games, and schools have the option to offer off-season conditioning workouts.
These changes of course affect the Oswego Buccaneers teams, as many student-athletes were looking forward to the season beginning in the month of August. WTOP 10 will continue to bring coverage on this matter, as students will hopefully be returning to school by the beginning of September.
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Oswego Men’s LAX finish season 7-5
OSWEGO, NY- The Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse finished their 2023 lacrosse season as they played two games this week as they played Cortland and Potsdam on the road.The first game was an usual outing for the Lakers against Cortland but they would be lose 22-5. The Lakers would get off on the wrong foot in the first quarter as they trailed 7-0 with 4:36 left in the first quarter as Klay Stuver would score twice during that span for the Red Dragons. The Lakers would finally get their first goal of the game as Liam Sexton would score unassisted with 2:42 remaining in the first quarter. The Red Dragons would continue to find answers to the Lakers defense as Ryan Smith and Tyler Starrett would score for the Red Dragons to give Cortland a 9-1 lead at the end of quarter one. 33 seconds into the second quarter Klay Stuver would score his third goal of the game as Tyler Starrett assisted with the goal. The Lakers second goal would come 2:35 seconds later with Gavin Elston scoring his first goal of the game. Almost two minutes later Liam Sexton scored his second goal of the game as the Lakers trailed 10-3. Three minutes would go by without both teams scoring until Klay Stuver scored his fourth goal of the game to put the Red Dragons up 11-3. Connor Aspinal would score his first goal in four games to put the Lakers down 12-4 with 2:14 remaining in the first half. The rest of the second quarter would remain scoreless with the Red Dragons leading 12-4 at half. Cortland would dominate the face-off battle winning nine face-offs compared to Oswego’s five.
The second half would write the same story for the Lakers as the first. Three minutes and nine seconds would go by the in third quarter without a score from both teams until Caden Yancey scored for the Red Dragons to put them up 13-4. Two minutes and fifty two seconds later, Jason Dongelewic would score the final goal of the game for the Lakers to put them down 13-5. Klay Stuver’s brother Kole would score his first goal of the game to give the Red Dragons a 14-5 lead. The Red Dragons would lead 19-5 at the end of the third quarter. Tyler Starrett would score twice during that span with Caden Yancey, Ryan Smith, and Nick Stoecker scoring once as well during that 5-0 run during the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter would start with a 6:32 scoring drought for both teams until Joe DeLany scored his second goal of the season for the Red Dragons to put them up 20-5. Bradley Cunningham and Tristan Triolo would score the final two goals of the day for the Red Dragons as both of them would score their first goals of the season as well as their second career goals. The Red Dragons would win 22-5 as they had 13 different players scoring for them. This marks the second time the Lakers have lost 22-5 to Cortland in their program’s history. This also marks the tenth time the Lakers gave up 22+ to the Red Dragons with their worst loss against Cortland losing 29-5 back on New Years Day 1984.
The Lakers would rebound against Potsdam in their last game of the season winning 13-12. The Lakers got things started scoring 1:23 seconds into the game with Jack Delany scoring for the Lakers. It didn’t take the Lakers long to score again as two minutes later Liam Sexton would put one in the net for the Lakers to give them a 2-0 lead with 11:37 remaining in the first quarter. Both teams went scoreless for 7:44 seconds until Corey O’Connor would score a goal man-up after a Potsdam penalty. Sixteen seconds later Logan Prescott would score for the Lakers to make it 4-0. Potsdam would finally get on the board with 1:38 left in the first quarter as Peyton Smith would score for the Bears to make it 4-1 at the end of the first quarter. Potsdam would add a goal early in the second quarter as Drew Rose would score unassisted with just 2:46 into the second quarter. Oswego would go score for 5:16 seconds until Corey O’Connor added his second goal of the game with Jack Delany assisting the goal. Eighteen seconds later O’Connor would add goal number four of the day to put the Lakers up 6-2. Potsdam would score another goal to make it 6-3 with 2:30 remaining in the first half. Trey Jones would score with 57 seconds left in the half to give the Lakers a 7-3 lead at half.
The Bears would cut the Lakers lead to three with just 19 seconds into the second half as Tyler Gould would put one in the back of the net for Potsdam. Thirty seven seconds later, Jason Dongelewic would score for the Lakers to make it 8-4. Potsdam would rally off two straight goals to cut the Lakers lead to 8-6 with 9:42 left in the third quarter. Hayden Coney and Logan Prescott would add two more goals for the Lakers to increase their lead to 10-6 with 5:55 left in the third quarter. The Bears would cut the score to two with 1:46 left in the third quarter as Peyton Walsh would have his second goal of the game and Ryan Wassmer would score his first of the game. Peyton Walsh would score his third goal of the game just 1:23 seconds into the fourth quarter to cut the Lakers lead to just one. Gavin Elston would bring the Lakers lead back to two with 11:34 remaining in the fourth. Potsdam would score man-down as Bryce Tyler was called for a cross-check but it wouldn’t matter for the Bears as Noah Strader would score to bring the score to a one-point game. Liam Sexton would make the score 12-10 with 8:24 left in the game. Potsdam would quickly respond as Peyton Walsh scored goal number four of the day with 7:36 left. Jack Delany would score his second goal of the game and would seal the deal for the Lakers with 2:34 remaining in the game to make the final score 13-12 Oswego.
The Lakers finish 7-5 to end their 2023 season as they will face off once against Cortland in the first round of the SUNYAC Playoff Tournament on Wednesday, May 3rd at Cortland at 4:00. The Lakers clinch their first playoff berth since 2019 where that season ended losing to guess who, the Cortland Red Dragons 13-10. This game will be a rematch of last week’s game as Oswego looks to avoid going 0-41 against Cortland all-time in their program’s history and finally get over the hump and beat Cortland.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ERIN BLANK, WTOP-10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Team Spotlight: Oswego State Field Hockey
OSWEGO, NY — As the unusual fall semester continues into the month of October, the Oswego State Field Hockey team would be in the heat of a competitive battle in the SUNYAC conference right about now. The 4-12-0 Lakers finished the 2019 season sixth in the conference standings, missing the playoff bracket. The group lost one senior at the end of the 2019 campaign, midfielder Riley Mallett. Head Coach Heather Moore touched on the impact the Suffern native made to the team.
“[Riley was] a leader by example, always the hardest worker on the field.” Moore said.
With much of the team returning for their 2021 season, Moore feels that the team will be able to pick up the leadership around the field. Moore expects the defensive core, backed by sophomore netminder Erica Scheblein to develop heading into this unusual season.
“Sometimes we ended up being a little too individualistic and not playing as much as a unit.” Moore continued, “with a higher level of communication and some confidence, they will become a stronger unit.”
The Lakers had a goal against average of 3.31 in conference play last season, which ranked them 6th among their competitors. On the other end of the turf, the team average 1.7 goals per game, a stat led by freshman Annie O’Neill. With the attacking front returning as well, Moore focused on bringing the team back to the fundamentals after the end of last season.
“Focusing on overall player development and improvement. Rebuilding our skills and our game sense, like our Field Hockey IQ.” Moore added, “retooling some things and getting our returners on the same page and having them work towards the same goals.”
The team was heading in that direction before the suspension of Athletics due to the concern of COVID-19 on the SUNY Oswego campus. Before this occurrence, the team was able to participate in three team practices in two individual pods. Although the group was happy to be back on the field together, Moore brought up the difficulty with the system.
“The hardest part was going back and forth from each pod and being able to give the right feedback at the right time,” Moore stated.
With no team activities now till the beginning of their season, the group will have to wait to take make their mark in the 2021 season. The Lakers will welcome five first year students onto their roster when the time comes. The group contains five individuals that play a range of positions.
“I have only seen them practice three times.” Moore further states, “but from what I can tell, they are going to be little sparks all across the field.”
These additions to the group will hopefully set the Lakers over the top once the calendar flips to 2021. The setback is something Moore is seeing the positives in, as the coach notices the break in the common rush of a season.
“It’s also nice to have a break and reflect about what worked, what did not work, and what do I see moving forward.” Moore said, “how I see them impacting in the future.”
As Moore and the rest of the coaching staff led their team into the rest of this semester, the coach’s message was simple and clear.
“It’s been a good lesson to all of us to remain flexible and adoptable. Using the information as it comes and managing your reactions.” Moore finished with, “I know things are crazy and keep changing, and it’s okay.”
Photo Provided by Oswego State Athletics
