OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State softball team has been busy at the start of the 2022 season. Most recently, the Lakers had four games over the course of two days. On Monday, the Lakers traveled down Interstate 90 to Western New York to take on the Blue Devils of SUNY Fredonia in a SUNYAC doubleheader. The Lakers would be swept by the Blue Devils as SUNY Fredonia defeated Oswego State by scores of 1-5 and 3-4. Game 2 featured a closer score line as the Lakers were close in getting over the hump. With one run in the 6th and 7th inning, Oswego State closed in on the Blue Devils but could not find a way to tie before the end of the contest. Fiona Higgins and Maria Lutz split time on the mound as Higgins pitched for a total of 4.1 innings. Zoe Minnig and Tia Smith both had 2 hits and 1 run over the course of the contest.
On Tuesday, the Lakers looked to bounce back in a nonconference doubleheader at Hamilton College. Oswego State would get back in the win column in game 2 as the Lakers took a 3-1 victory. The win came due to a big fourth inning which saw the Lakers snagging three runs. The Continentals got it done in game 1 in a high scoring 9-7 win for the home team.
Oswego State now sits at 5-12 overall on the season with a 1-3 conference record. The Lakers turn the ship towards SUNY Cortland as the Red Dragons will travel up Interstate 81 to take on the Lakers in another conference doubleheader. Oswego State was victorious last time these two teams met in the 2021 season. Game time is set for 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. at Laker Softball Field as WNYO will be live with all the action.
Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics (@OswegoAthletics)
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Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse Team Falls in Season Finale
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse team lost their fifth and final game of the 2021 season, dropping to no. 16 ranked Geneseo Knights, 20-3. This was Oswego’s fourth straight loss to Geneseo and second loss in 2021 as they were previously defeated 22-9 on April 12th.
The Knights opened Sunday’s game with back-to-back goals from senior attack, Hannah Marafioti. They then followed that up with an 11-0 scoring run and held the Lakers scoreless until the opening minutes of the second half. Freshman attack, Isabella Lembo, responded with back-to-back goals of her own to put Oswego on the board, though the Lakers were unable to generate enough offense to keep up with Geneseo. The Knights defense was dominant throughout the entire game, holding the Lakers to just 11 total shots, including 5 in the first half. Geneseo also caused Oswego to turn the ball over 26 times, whereas they had only 18. Three Knights had hat-tricks in Sunday’s matchup, including Jacqui Thorsen (4), Emma Gaenzle (3), and Hannah Marafioti (3). Freshman midfielder, Shae McConnell, also scored a goal for Oswego, bringing her season total to 19.
Oswego honored two seniors on Sunday, including Kamryn Sherman and Lynsey Roth. Roth is an attack/midfield hybrid from Syracuse. She just joined the Women’s Lacrosse team this year and appeared in three games for the Lakers in 2021 after playing for the Oswego State Women’s Soccer team. Roth was able to add depth on a smaller roster under head coach Britt Howard. Sherman was a four-year starter for Oswego and appeared in 45 games. She’s totaled 50 goals and 36 points in her collegiate career and will finish with a .562 all-time shot percentage. Both athletes will surely be missed by teammates, coaches, and fans alike for the contributions on and off the field.
Following an unprecedented and abrupt end to their 2020 season, the Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse team finishes the 2021 season 3rd in the SUNYAC West division with a record of 3-4. Although it wasn’t the outcome many were hoping for, there are many positive things to take away from this season for Coach Britt Howard and the Lakers. In a reduced season, Oswego had four players total 20 or more points in 2021: Sela Wiley (34), Logan Castiglione (26), Shae McConnell (23), and Isabella Lembo (20). Oswego Women’s Lacrosse has an abundance of young, talented athletes who are only going to get better moving forward. With more experience under their belts, the Lakers are sure to be contenders in upcoming seasons. Oswego State unfortunately wrapped up their season, but Brockport and Geneseo will represent the division in the SUNYAC Championship this coming weekend. This will wrap up WTOP 10’s coverage of the Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse team for the 2021 season.
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Men’s Soccer fights for draw in SUNYAC opener
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego Men’s soccer team took to the Laker Turf Saturday afternoon to open their conference schedule. The Fredonia Blue Devils travelled east to take on the Lakers. Action on the field started fast, in just the fourth minute a header off a Blue Devils corner kick got past Oswego keeper Matt D’Arpino to give the Blue Devils an early 1-0 lead. Only thirty seconds after the goal, the Lakers made their chances of winning that much harder. Liam Rothar would pick up a red card and drop Oswego down to 10 men for the next 85 minutes of game action. In the seventeenth minute Oswego’s Kyle Genrich single handedly brought the game to a tie. He would steal a pass between two defenders and be one on one with the goalie. He would place it in the bottom left corner, even though Fredonia’s goalie got finger tips on it, and the game would be tied at one. From then until the end of the half the the action slowed down a lot, and the team’s went to the half tied.
The second half of the game was much like the second half of the the first half, as lot of possession in the mid-field and back and forth, but no real chances on goal. A yellow card for Fredonia in the 61st minute drew the ire of the crowd who wanted the refs to give a straight red as they had earlier in the game. In the final ten minutes of the game, the teams started to pick up the pace once more. With seven to go in the game, Kyle Gehrich put one on goal from outside the 18 yard box, forcing a save from the keeper. From then on it was all Fredonia. They would keep the ball on the Oswego defensive half for the final six minutes. The Blue Devils got off six shots on four corner kicks but the defense held strong, and D’Arpino had a few key saves to keep the game tied at one. Gehrich was Oswego’s leading shot taker on the day with three, all being on goal. Matt D’Arpino would finish the day with three saves.
Both team’s would walk away with a single point for the standings, as under the new point system in the SUNYAC, a draw gives each team a point, a win gives three points, and a loss gives none. The point system only applies to SUNYAC matchups. The Lakers are now 2-3-1 (0-0-1 SUNYAC). The Lakers next matchup is against SUNY Brockport on Wednesday September 21 at 4:00 P.M. in Brockport.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY SAMANTHA KEANEY, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Men’s Hockey lose two amidst tough stretch
UTICA, NY – The #7 ranked Oswego State Men’s hockey team has hit a rough patch in their season, losing their last three games. After losing to Skidmore two weekends ago in the Skidmore Thanksgiving Invitational, their Lakers returned to home ice Friday night to take on the Morrisville Mustangs on Teddy Bear Toss night.
Morrisville took the early lead in the game. In the fourth minute of game action, the Mustangs put one past net-minder Cal Schell for the first goal of the game. It look less than ten seconds for Morrisville to double their lead, and the Lakers found themselves with an uphill climb to get back and win the game. Despite being down, the Lakers led the period in shots, 9-7, three of them coming by way of Tommy Cahill. Schell ended the period with five saves. The Lakers dominated the face-off circle winning 13 of 15 opportunities.
The Lakers started their fight back in the second period. It started slow, a penalty by Ryan Dickinson at the five minute mark put the Mustangs on the man advantage, but the Lakers killed it, allowing no shots. Just past the half way mark Trent Grimshaw scored, sending the teddy bears flying onto the ice. All the stuffed animals collected were donated to Toys for Tots. The goal was assisted by Ryan Dickinson and Tommy Cahill. Neither team would score the rest of the period. Oswego again led in shots, 8-6, and was led by Cahill and Colabufo with two each. Schell had another six saves.
The third period saw Morrisville have two penalties, first a tripping call seven minutes in, and then their second too many players on the ice call of the game in the seventeenth minute. The Lakers couldn’t capitalize on either penalty only getting one shot off in the first and none in the second. They finished 0-3 on the Powerplay in the game. Oswego pulled goalie Cal Schell in the final minutes of the game, and the Mustangs used that to their advantage, scoring the empty netter with just 1:30 remaining the contest. Morrisville handed the Lakers their first conference loss of the season, and their second loss in a row. Cahill and Colabufo led the team in shots with five each. The Lakers were dominate all game in the face-off circle going an outstanding 25 for 30. Schell had another 11 saves in the final frame, finishing the game with 22.
Oswego took to the road on Saturday night to take on the Utica Pioneers for a matchup of two top 10 teams. The Pioneers came into the ga e ranked #3 in the country and looked to hold their status and one of the best programs in division three. It also happened to be teddy bear toss night in Utica. The Lakers held the game scoreless for a good portion of the first period, but the Pioneers finally got one by Schell. The Pioneers commanded the first period, winning the shot battle 17-5. Schell, back in net, had 16 saves.
The Pioneers took over the in the second frame. Nine minutes in the they scored their second of the game. Two minutes later they scored their third. They scored their fourth with less than two remaining in the period. The Lakers took a couple penalties in the period, but were able to kill them, despite going down 4-0. Lakers were again outshot, 15-8, in the period. Schell had another 12 saves.
The Lakers played their most competitive in the third. They were still out-shot 13-10, but that was the closest it was all game. Neither side scored in the period, but it was a very physical one. The squads had dueling penalties just before the fifteen minute mark, but for the Lakers it resulted in a five minute major and game misconduct for Matt McQuade. The sides again had competing penalties with 3:30 to go. Despite everything that happened in the period, Schell finished off an overall good night with another 13 saves, finishing the game with 41 saves. Alex DiCarlo and Connor Sleeth led the Lakers in shots with three each.
With the losing streak, the Lakers fall to 7-4 on the season and 5-1 in the SUNYAC. They have one more weekend of games before they get a couple weeks off. Next weekend they take to the road for a game against the Buffalo State Bengals on Friday and stay on the road for a game against Fredonia on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7:00 P.M. for both games. The are currently #7 in the USCHO poll, but expect to fall with the losses.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHELLE QUIACHON, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT.
