OSWEGO, N.Y. — Despite a great showing on Laker Turf Arena, the Lakers women’s lacrosse team couldn’t get the job done in their game against the Golden Flyers of Nazareth. The Golden Flyers were off to a wild star scoring the first three goals of the game. With three minutes left in the first, sophomore Julia Quirk and junior Sela Wiley both found success to narrow it down to a one goal deficit. The second quarter was back and forth action ultimately ending with the Golden Flyers taking a 6-5 lead at the half. It was a rough third quarter for the Lakers as the Golden Flyers scored six unanswered goals to bring the lead up to seven. The Lakers were not giving up just yet as they were able to score five more goals in a comeback attempt, ultimately losing by just four. The lead scorers for the Lakers were sophomore Julia Quirk with four goals and Junior Sela Wiley with three. The Lakers look to bounce back from this loss when they head to Lake Ontario Thursday to take on the Fredonia Blue Devils in a SUNYAC matchup. Game starts at 1:00!
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
-
Oswego’s Men’s Lacrosse Team Set to Begin 2021 Season
OSWEGO, NY — The Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse Team is set to take on SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, March 20th to kick off their 2021 season. This will be the Oswego Men’s Lacrosse team’s first action in over a year due to the pandemic. However, unlike prior seasons, conference play is set to begin earlier than ever before, starting March 26th versus Geneseo. Senior goaltender Kevin O’Donnell understands just how important these early games are to set the tone for the rest of the season.
“With SUNYACs coming up so soon and those being the most important games for our team, the level of expectancy exceeds any other season in my opinion,” O’Donnell said. “Especially with the teams were playing, Morrisville, Oneonta, and then the rest of the SUNY division, it’s important that were on our A-game.”
O’Donnell is now a team captain and is looking to surpass 400 career saves in the coming games.
Being that this is the Lakers first game since March of 2020, it’s important that they eliminate any mistakes or confusion they might have. Head Coach Drew Bezek, who is going into his 7th season on the coaching staff, believes his team needs to master their game plan early on in order to be successful.
“With early season games, it’s always about limiting mistakes and doing what we need to do. A lot of times with the beginning part of the season, you’re not so worried about your competition and what they run. It’s us being super-efficient and consistent at what we’re trying to do.”
Although many things are different this season for the players, coaches, and staff, film sessions and scouting remain an important aspect of Oswego’s success. However, since teams only played a few games in 2020, the Lakers will have to anticipate Oneonta’s game plan based off what they saw from early last year.
Coach Bezek said, “We’ll treat this year similar to the past where for the first game of the year, your kind of going off tendencies from the previous year. We’re not going to know some of their new players, but from the film, we could try to piece together how they run their system.”
The Lakers have won their last four games vs. Oneonta dating back to 2016 and look to extend their win streak to five on Saturday.
Package Aired Thursday 3/18/21 on Nightly News
-
A Look Ahead: Oswego State men’s hockey prepares for Oswego Hockey Classic
OSWEGO, N.Y — The Oswego State men’s hockey team heads into the Clarion/Best Western Oswego Hockey Classic on a five game win streak with an overall record of 8-3-1. The tournament welcomes three other teams into the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall. SUNY Canton, Skidmore College, and nationally ranked #4 Augsburg University will join the Lakers in the tournament this season.
During the 2019-20 season, the Lakers lost to the eventual tournament winners, St. Mary’s Cardinals, in the first round of the tournament. On Saturday, Oswego State would fall to the University of New England Nor’easters 4-3 in the the consolation match up during that year’s tournament.
In this year’s tournament, the Lakers are set to take on the #4 Augsburg University Auggies in the first round Saturday night with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. on the SUNY Oswego campus. This is the fifth nationally ranked match up for the Oswego State Lakers this season. So far, the Lakers have not beaten a nationally ranked opponent.
The Auggies and Lakers have only met once prior to Saturday night’s game. On January 3rd, 2009, these two teams met for the first time in Oswego during the Oswego Hockey Classic. The Lakers were able to take the 5-2 victory and send the Auggies back to Minnesota after defeating them in the tournament championship game. Oswego State finished 18-8-1 that season and lost to Plattsburgh State in the SUNYAC Championship finals.
Augsburg University travels to New York after dropping two games during the week in Michigan. One of those games was an exhibition contest against the United State U-18 Development team that finished with a score line of 6-1 in favor of the under eighteen team. The second game was against the number one team in the nation, the Adrian College Bulldogs. The Bulldogs defeated the Auggies 5-2 last night to continue to assert their dominance over NCAA Division III men’s hockey. The Auggies still have a 9-2 record heading into this weekend, one of the better records in Division III hockey.
The Saturday afternoon match up has the SUNY Canton Kangaroos facing off against the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds. The 4:00 p.m. puck drop features the SUNY Canton squad that has an overall record of 3-3-1. The Kangaroos has played less games then most due to postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other side of the ice, the Thoroughbreds come into the contest with the 6-4-1 record and a 3-3-1 conference record. On Sunday, puck drop is set for 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. for the two games. WTOP 10 will have the broadcasts for all four games this weekend in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena.
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
-
Men’s Hockey gets revenge on Morrisville
MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Oswego State Men’s Hockey team took to the road Wednesday night for a revenge game with the Morrisville Mustangs. The Mustangs came to Oswego just after the Thanksgiving break for the Teddy Bear toss game and shocked the Lakers by beating them 3-1, in a game that would end up being the second loss in a three game skid. Now only three games away from the SUNYAC playoffs, every game matters for the Lakers who are looking to secure home ice advantage in the playoffs.
In what could have been a trap game for the Lakers, they showed what they were made of and it started with the games first goal halfway through the first period. Tommy Cahill found netting, with the assist coming from Daniel Colabufo. The Lakers did a good job killing penalties in the first period, killing off two. Once again, they Lakers ran into a goalie who was having a great game, at least in the first period. Morrisville’s Ryan Creenan had 21 saves in the first period, Cal Schell had seven.
The second period it seemed as thought the Lakers figured Creenan out. It took just under ten minutes for the first goal, but from there they were off to the races. The Lakers second goal came from Shane Bull, with assists credit going to Alex DiCarlo. Less than three minutes later, Jackson Arcan buried one, Tyler Flack getting an assist. The Lakers would find netting for a third time in the second period. Alex DiCarlo added to his team leading goal total, while Ryan Bunka and Connor Gatto each grabbed assists. With a 4-0 lead at the second break, Oswego looked good to win, but they weren’t done. Creenan only had seven saves in the second period, Schell had eight.
Not even four minutes into the third, the Lakers struck again. Connor Gatto grabbed his third goal of the year. Alex DiCarlo grabbed his third point of the game with the goal, Shane Bull also grabbed an assist. The middle part of the period was more tame, Oswego killed a Quinn Warmuth tripping penalty around the halfway point. Oswego took advantage of a late Morrisville penalty to put the cherry on top of the game. Jackson Arcan scored his second goal of the game, and sixth of the season. Shane Bull became the second Laker in the game to reach three points, with Ben Addison also tallying an assist. Oswego walked onto the bus with a 6-0 victory. Matt McQuade led the Lakers with four shots in the game. Schell finished with 26 games and his first shutout of the season. Creenan had 33 in the game.
The Lakers have two games left, both on the road. They take on Buffalo State Friday followed by Fredonia Saturday. With the win the Lakers reclaimed first place in the SUNYAC, one point ahead of Plattsburgh on an even number of games played. Fredonia and Buffalo State won’t be walk over games, both squads still playing for playoff spots and seeding.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY EMILY RUSINKO, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
