BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Oswego State Lakers traveled west on the thruway to take on the Buffalo State Bengals Wednesday afternoon. The action started early in this matchup as the Lakers scored twice before the second minute of the game. The first goal came off the foot of Kieran Gilroy a minute and twenty-two seconds into the game. Just thirteen seconds later Liam Rothar would score giving the Lakers a 2-0 lead. The goal was assisted by Chris Smith. The action didn’t stop there. Ten minutes later Buffalo State cut the Lakers lead in half. No other goals in the first half. Oswego goalie Matt D’Arpino made two saves in the first.
The second half didn’t have any goals, but did see plenty of action. The 66th minute saw competing red cards. Oswego’s Matthew Sprague and Buffalo State’s Ayden Cristales each received red cards causing both teams to go down ten men. Oswego would receive two more yellows in the game, with the Bengals receiving one. The game ended 2-1. Despite the win, the Lakers ended up being out shot 16-8, and outshot in shots-on-goal 5-3. Matt D’Arpino ended the game with a total of four saves.
The Lakers are now 5-6-2 (2-3-2 SUNYAC) and have 8 points. They are sitting sixth in the SUNYAC, the final playoff spot.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE QUIACHON, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Oswego State Falls to Cortland in SUNYAC Championship
CORTLAND, N.Y. — In a thrilling three game SUNYAC Baseball Championship Series that featured 11 lead changes between the two teams, the Oswego State Baseball team was defeated by Cortland. Oswego took game one from Cortland in a late comeback fashion, but Cortland won game two in extra innings and game three to take the series. Cortland outscored Oswego 25-23 between the three games, which featured one run wins for each team in games one and two and a two run win for Cortland in the deciding game.
Game one was tied 2-2 after four innings, Kieran Finnegan had some early command issues surrendering four walks which resulted in two runs in the first inning while allowing just one hit in the frame. Finnegan bounced back well, giving up no hits in the next three innings and just one walk. Oswego’s two runs came in the top of the second on a Hunter Holliday RBI double and Julian Drew RBI single. Cortland put up two runs on four hits against Finnegan in the 5th which led to Anthony Van Fossen entering the game for the Lakers. Van Fossen was brilliant out of the bullpen as the junior threw 3.1 hitless innings for the Lakers. SUNYAC RBI leader Kyle Lauria trimmed the deficit to one run with an RBI single in the 7th, and the Lakers kept going with a big two out rally in the 8th. Oswego scored three runs in the 8th as Myles Felton scored on a wild pickoff throw to tie it, Brendon Frank singled in Paul Tammaro, and Ryan Enos followed with an RBI double to score Frank. Mike Di Salvo came in to pitch the 9th but gave up a leadoff home run to make it a one run lead for the Lakers. Di Salvo had the tying run on third base, and the winning run on second with no outs but got back to back flyouts to finish the 7-6 game one Oswego win.
The highest scoring game of the weekend came in an 11-10 extra inning walk off win for Cortland. Game two featured 31 total hits and three home runs for each team, as it was Tammaro, Ryan Weiss, and Felton each hitting long balls for the Lakers. At least one team scored in all ten innings, as Cortland had a four run and multiple three run frames scoring in bunches, but Oswego scored more consistently with one or two runs in seven of the ten innings. Frank and Weiss led Oswego’s offense as both of the seniors contributed four hits apiece. After ten innings and a ton of offense, it was Scott Giordano from Cortland with a walkoff home run forcing a decisive game three the following day.
Oswego and Cortland had identical runs scored in each frame from the 1st to 4th, as the game was tied 5-5 after four innings. Oswego scored one in the top of the 5th but Cortland answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame that would be the tying and eventual winning run, before tacking on an insurance run in the 6th. Enos was 3-4 with a home run, a double, and 4 RBIs in the final game of the series but it was not enough as Cortland took game three 8-6 to win the SUNYAC Championship.
The season is not over yet for Oswego as the Lakers got an at-large bid into the 48 team NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. There are eight separate locations with six teams at each site; the winning team from each of the eight sites will compete in the Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Oswego was selected to be the second seed at the Hartford, Connecticut Region which is being hosted by Trinity College (Connecticut), a team that Oswego was scheduled to play against earlier this year. The teams in order of seeds 1-6 playing at the Hartford Regional are Southern Maine, Oswego State, Wheaton (Massachusetts), Salve Regina, Husson, Johnson & Wales (Providence). This is Oswego’s sixth consecutive season qualifying for the Championship, and the Lakers are looking for their first World Series appearance since 2018. Games will take place Thursday, May 27th through Sunday, May 30th and Oswego will play their first game at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Image Provided by Alexis Fragapane, Lexi Fragapane Photography
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Sullivan and Lakers take care of business against No. 5 Hobart
OSWEGO — The No. 6 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team defeated No. 5 Hobart by a score of 4-2. Jody Sullivan started the scoring as he crept in past the blue line and punished a wrister past the Statesmen goalie’s right shoulder. Aaron Huffnagle, Anthony Pasero, and Mitch Emerson also tallied a goal apiece in the match. David Richer was strong in the net recording twelve saves while allowing two in the net. The Lakers will travel to Fredonia on Friday for a meeting with the Blue Devils. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
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Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse Prepares for Brockport Following Win Versus Buffalo State
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego Women’s Lacrosse team won their fourth game of the season on Monday, defeating the Buffalo State Bengals 14-4. This was the Lakers second win of the season versus the Bengals as the won their last matchup 14-6 on April 10th. The Lakers sweep the Bengals to get two wins this season in the SUNYAC West Division.
Oswego snapped a 3-game losing streak with Monday’s victory, something they needed to accomplish in order to keep pace in the West division. It was a back-and-forth game midway through the 1st half. The Lakers lead 3-0 in the opening 5 minutes following goals from Shae McConnell, Erin Lehmann, and leading scorer, Sela WIley. The Bengals then retaliated with 3 goals of their own, tying the game with 12:36 left in the 1st half. However, Buffalo State would never hold a lead in the entire game as they were outscored by Oswego 11-1 at the end of regulation. Wiley had yet another dominant performance on Monday. The sophomore scored 5 goals, bringing her season total to 27, and added an assist on top of that. McConnell also had a hat-trick while Isabella Lembo fell just short, totaling 2 goals and 1 assist. Four other Lakers scored a single goal, including Logan Castiglione, Julia Quirk, Erin Lehmann, and Katie Fierro. Fierro netted her first collegiate goal in the victory.
Oswego improved to 3-2 in SUNYAC play and will look towards their highly anticipated matchup vs SUNY Brockport. The Lakers will look to avenge their blowout loss to the Golden Eagles just a few days ago on April 17th. Oswego lost 22-9 but will have to have a short term memory heading into Wednesday’s matchup. Brockport is on a 7-game winning streak, backed by the outstanding play of leading scorer, Heather Conklin. Conklin has scored a whopping 39 goals this season and had 6 against Oswego in their previous game. The Golden Eagles also have two other players with more than 20 goals, including Cassidy Burnash (24), and Allison Jennings (21). The Lakers will have to play better defensively in order to keep up with Brockport’s high-powered offense. Oswego currently sits in 3rd place in the West division and needs a victory to keep pace with SUNY Geneseo (4-1). Brockport (6-1) has already clinched a playoff berth and will look to continue their great 2021 season on Wednesday. Face off is set for 4:00 PM at Brockport for this SUNYAC West matchup.
