The Oswego State Softball team takes the field Monday, March 22nd, for the first time since May 4th, 2019. The Lakers go on the road to take on RIT in a Monday afternoon doubleheader slated to take place at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The Lakers nearly 700 day off season is shown in roster changes. Four of the 14 girls who appeared in the most recent game, against Cortland in the SUNYAC playoffs are on the roster this year. The 2021 Oswego softball roster features ten newcomers along with seven upperclassmen who return from the 2019 team. The upperclassmen on the team will have a big leadership role this year because the two classes have not seen game action in their college careers.
The Tigers of RIT also have not yet played a game this season, but they were able to play ten in 2020 when they went 7-3 overall. The Tigers feature a very experienced team with nine upperclassmen plus two graduate students. Oswego starts their season with four games in Rochester, with two games against RIT at 3:00 and 5:00 Monday, March 22, as well as 1:00 and 3:00 Sunday March 28 at St. John Fisher. All of these games are non-conference as SUNYAC play does not start until April 1st.
-
Oswego State men’s lacrosse rolls through Plattsburgh State
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team traveled to North Country on Saturday to take on the Plattsburgh State Cardinals for a SUNYAC conference match up. Oswego State defeated the Cardinals by a score of 19-7 and improves to an overall record of 6-2 in the 2022 season. The Lakers are also 1-0 in conference play and are on the five game winning streak heading into another conference game on Tuesday.
Oswego State opened up the scoring in the first quarter which ended with a 6-0 lead for the Lakers. The Cardinals would tally three in the second quarter but Oswego State answered with another five goals. Ryan Eccles lead the offense with four goals and attacked Weston Gray tallied three goals and one assist. In the faceoff circle, Logan Prescott went 16 for 25 against the Cardinals.
In-between the pipes, starter Aiden Kenyon and back up Jeff Kinyoun combined for 7 goals against and 12 saves. Kenyon would pick up the win after playing over 50 minutes in net and Kinyoun taking over to finish up the contest. The tandem from Plattsburgh combined for 19 goals against and 14 total saves.
Oswego State turns their attention to SUNY Potsdam Tuesday afternoon at Laker Turf Stadium. The Lakers are on a four game win streak against the Bears and have an overall record of 26-15-0 against the SUNY Potsdam program. These two teams played back on April 10th, 2019 at SUNY Potsdam and the Lakers took the win 11-9. The game is set to start at 4:00 p.m. on SUNY Oswego’s campus as the Lakers look to stay undefeated in conference play so far this season.
Image Provided By William Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
-
Men’s Volleyball Wins Sixth Straight Title
OSWEGO — For the sixth straight year, the Oswego High School boys volleyball team has been crowned the champions of Section III. They defeated Jamesville-Dewitt winning three sets to two. Riley Mahoney overcame a sore shoulder to account for 18 of the team’s 48 kills. Freshman Nate Nevinny was just as dominant as he finished with 44 assists. The Buccaneers will look to keep their season going on Friday as they take on Eastchester from Section I in Fayetteville. First serve is at 5 p.m.
-
Progress Report: Oswego State men’s hockey
OSWEGO, N.Y. — After last night’s contest in Rochester, the Oswego State men’s hockey team has completed twelve games prior to the turn of the New Year. After six SUNYAC games and five nonconference games, the Lakers find themselves with a overall record of 8-3-1. The Lakers head into Christmas Break on a five game win streak. Oswego State also posts a stellular away record which features six wins and only one lost along with a tie.
Game Recap: Oswego State @ Nazareth College
Saturday night, the Lakers headed west to Rochester to take on the Nazareth College Golden Flyers. Nazareth College was hosting the annual Hockey Fights Cancer game at Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex so the Lakers wore their teal jerseys and the Golden Flyers wore special uniforms to honor the cause. Oswego State halted a Nazareth College comeback in overtime to get their fifth straight win by a score line of 6-5. This win was head coach Ed Gosek‘s 350th win as the bench boss for the Oswego State Lakers. His all time record as Oswego State’s head coach improves to 350-111-31 and currently posts a winning percentage of .743. Oswego State forward Alex DiCarlo would net two goals in the contest, both in the first period to put the Lakers ahead. Tyler Flack would have an assist on both of those goals along with two assists later in the contest to put up a four point night and lead the Lakers on the stats sheet. Nazareth would answer in the first period to cut the lead in half but the Lakers would find an answer in the next stanza. Oswego State would net another two goals as Connor Sleeth got a pair of his own. Sleeth was also a factor in the faceoff circle with ten wins, the most from any Oswego State player. The Golden Flyers would string together four goals in the third period, two of them coming from Spencerport native Nick Charron. The tying goal would come with one second remaining off a faceoff that push the game into overtime.
Oswego State and Nazareth would trade shots to start the overtime period before the Lakers gained procession around the one minute mark. Ryan Dickinson would be the hero the Lakers needed after the defenseman redirected the puck off a pass from DiCarlo. The forward would finish with two goals and one assist in the contest. Goaltender Eric Green would finish the contest in between the pipes as starting netminder Steven Kozikoski left the game with the trainer at the end of regulation. Kozikoski would make a total of 27 saves over the course of the sixty minutes of hockey.
Progress Report
With thirteen regular season games left prior to the start of the SUNYAC Championships, the Lakers have a nineteen day rest before the start of the Clarion/Best Western Oswego Hockey Classic. This group of young talent currently sits fifth in the conference standings with six SUNYAC games completed. The Lakers have 13 points posting a 4-1-1 conference record. One positive, the four teams ahead of Oswego State (Geneseo, Cortland, Plattsburgh State, Brockport) have all finished eight conference games. The Lakers have the advantage heading into the second half of the season with two extra conference games still ahead on the calendar. Oswego State still needs to face Buffalo State and Fredonia as those four contests linger on the schedule. Both western teams have had a rough start in terms of conference play.
In terms of offense, the Oswego State Lakers average 3.3 goals per game. The offense goes through both Alex DiCarlo and captain Travis Broughman who are both tied for the points lead with a total of thirteen. DiCarlo has found his freshman form once again and has eight tallies along with eight assist for that thirteen point total. The sophomore is currently on a three game point streak which includes two games that feature multiple point nights. Broughman headed into Rochester with a four game point streak which featured a five point night in SUNY Canton against the Kangaroos. The captains nine assists is a team high and also included in his stat column are four goals for his thirteen point total. Currently these two players are the only Lakers above a point per game. Newcomers like Connor Sleeth and Tyler Flack have also made an impact in the Lakers offense both posting nine points through twelve games. Sleeth heads into January with three goals and six assists while Flack has two goals and seven assists.
On the other side of the puck, the Lakers defensive core averages 2.3 goals against per game, the fourth best in the SUNYAC conference. Out of the eight defenseman on the roster, there is not one that has not dressed in all twelve games so far this season. The team effort on defense has kept opponents to just an average of 25.5 shots per game which compares to the 30.4 that the Lakers average on net. Transfer Troy Robillard leads the team in blocks with a total of fourteen after his eleven games played in an Oswego State uniform. In between the pipes, starting netminder Steven Kozikoski has come to mid season form after a slower start. The Laker currently averages 1.90 goals against and posts a .931 save percentage after his ten games played this season. Newcomer Eric Green has also seen time in net for Oswego State and holds a 2.89 goals against average and has a .840 save percentage. The tandem has done a solid job in the first half of the season especially in tight games.
The special teams have also come a long way after a slow start in the 2021-22 season. As of right now, the Oswego State Lakers power play unit ranks number one in the SUNYAC with a 34.7 efficiency percentage. The Lakers have scored a total of seventeen power play goals over the course of forty nine opportunities. When the Lakers are a man down, Oswego State has only given up seven power play goals to opponents, the same as Geneseo. The Oswego State Lakers rank fourth in the conference with a penalty kill that has a 84.1 success rate. The special team units will be essential to success in the second half of the season.
On the other side of the break, Oswego State will have to look forward to the annual Clarion/Best Western Oswego Hockey Classic. This year, the #4 Augsburg Auggies, SUNY Canton Kangaroos, and Skidmore Thoroughbreds will head to SUNY Oswego to compete in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. On Saturday, January 1st, SUNY Canton will take on Skidmore College at 3:00 p.m. prior to the Oswego State Lakers facing off against the Augsburg University Auggies at 7:00 p.m. in front of a hometown crowd. Sunday’s match ups will be determined by the results from Saturday but Oswego State will play during the 7:00 p.m. time slot. Oswego State has only played Augsburg University once during the 2008-09 season during the Oswego Hockey Classic. The Lakers were victorious in that contest with a final score of 5-2. The Lakers will play six more contests after that weekend in January and a majority of those games will be SUNYAC match ups. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State men’s hockey team and the group continues their hunt for a conference championship in the 2021-22 season.
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
