ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team kicked off the 2022 season on the road, falling to Hartwick College 9-6 on Tuesday. Although it was a tough way to begin the new campaign, Oswego saw great production from the team and had five total goal-scorers on the day.
The game started off relatively slow with Hartwick scoring the only first quarter goal just over five minutes in. However, the second quarter saw both the Lakers and Hawks heat up offensively. Hartwick a flurry of goals to begin the second frame, bringing their lead to 3-0 with 12:10 remaining in the first half. It wasn’t until the 8:08 mark where Oswego capitalized on a Hawks turnover and turned it into a Rob Nelson goal. Not even a minute later, Hartwick brought their lead back up to three on a fast break shot that found the back of the net. Later in the quarter, the Hawks were called for a slashing penalty which put the Lakers in a man-up situation that they cashed in on. Senior Weston Gray found Gavin Elston as he shot one past the Hartwick goalie, bring the score to 4-2. Although this provided a burst of momentum for Oswego, Hartwick remained relentless before the half. The Hawks snuck in another goal before the end of the second quarter and brought the lead to 5-2 heading into the intermission.
To begin the second half, Oswego was flagged for a cross-check, giving Hartwick an extra-man opportunity early in the third quarter. A sixth Hawks goal followed the penalty, giving the home team a four-point lead. After some back-and-forth play throughout the next ten minutes, Hartwick laid in another goal which brought the score to 7-2. Though before the third quarter ended, Ryan Dumont scored his first goal of the season, assisted by Weston Gray. Heading into the final quarter, Oswego needed a few scoring runs to keep pace with Hartwick. Devon Gerhardt got things started for the Lakers at the 11:45 mark as he found the net for his first goal on the year. Just four minutes later, Gavin Elston put in his second goal of the contest, bringing the deficit to two. However, that would be as close as the score got from there on out. Hartwick put in two more goals over the final seven minutes of regulation before Cameron Tallman scored the final Oswego goal with 30 seconds remaining.
Although the Lakers have now started the 2022 season off 0-1, Oswego saw great production offensive and defensively that they can build off of. Under new interim head coach Sean Eccles, the Lakers saw seven players record at least one point in the contest. Goalkeeper Aiden Kenyon also gathered in 15 saves in his first start for Oswego. The men’s lacrosse team will have the opportunity to rebound on Saturday, Mar. 5 as they take on SUNY Polytechnic. Face-off is set for 1:00 p.m. at Utica.
Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics Department
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