OSWEGO, N.Y. – It was an entertaining weekend for women’s hockey as the Lakers were able to pick up a win this weekend despite suffering a loss the night prior. The Lakers headed to Potsdam this past Friday to take on the Bears in what was a big matchup for them. Despite a close game the Lakers just weren’t able to get the job done in a 2-1 loss. It was a stalemate in the first period as both teams remained scoreless at the buzzer. The second period is where things got out of hands for the Lakers as Potsdam was able to put two goals on the board and the Lakers just did not have an answer. Looking to rally in the third sophomore Ashlyn McGrath scored a goal capitalizing on an early third period power-play. The Lakers could not crawl out of the Bears trap they set up in the second as they left Potsdam with a one goal loss. Despite this loss the Lakers bounced back the following day.
Saturdays contest ended with a much better result for the Lakers as they took home a big SUNYAC win and their first win of the season against Canton on the road. This game was a great way for the Lakers to get back on track heading into some big upcoming games. They took the lead late in the first thanks to a goal by Myah Booth in the first period. The Lakers traded goals with Canton in the second Avery Webster responded back to a Canton goal off the assists from Rheya Zemlak and Ashlyn McGrath. The Lakers would just pour it on in the third when McGrath tallied another goal on the weekend. McGrath had a phenomenal two games for the Lakers. In the Last two minutes of the third period Kyleigh Grugin put the Nail in the coffin scoring the fourth and final goal for Oswego. The Lakers look to keep this momentum rolling as they take on Morrisville College this Friday, November 11th at 4:00 PM on the road!
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Men’s basketball captures big milestone in route to winning tip off tournament
WILLIMANTIC, CT. – The Oswego state men’s basketball team has continued their success from last year with a big tournament win this past weekend The Lakers traveled to Eastern Connecticut for the Tip-Off Tournament on Friday where they first faced the Hobart statesman. Oswego started the game by establishing a 6 point lead late in the first half of play with the help of their solid defensive performance. Hobart would then go on a run and erase the lead, eventually getting a three point lead of their own with 2:42 in the first half. Oswego was not be able to erase the deficit in a very low scoring half and allowed Hobart to hold a 30-25 lead going into halftime.
Oswego would come out alot stronger in the second half and put on an impressive offensive performance. The Lakers would erase a nine-point second half deficit and turn it into a their highest lead of the game by 16 points,. The Lakers ended up winning 65-53 to win game one of their weekend. Oswego would shoot 50% from the field in the second half, converting 17 of 34 field goal attempts and shot 40% from 3pt range, hitting 6 of 15 3-pt field goal attempts. Ahkee Anderson lead the way for the Lakers by scoring 15 points and overall shooting 50% from the field. Jeremiah Sparks led the team in rebounds with 8 and brought the Lakers to the championship Saturday.
The Lakers team faced Eastern Connecticut State Warriors in a back and forth matchup for the championship game of the Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Oswego would come out on fire in the first half shooting lights out with an outstanding 46.4% (13/28) on field goal attempts. But the Lakers couldn’t get the 3pt shots to fall shooting only 20% (2/10) from beyond the arc. The Lakers played some tough defense on the Warriors holding them to only 28.6% on their field goal attempts in the first. Oswego then established a 16 point lead late in the first. However, the Warriors would rally and end the half on a 11-0 run, hitting three consecutive 3-pt shots. Oswego went into halftime leading 32-27 going into halftime. Jamal Achille led the Lakers with 9 points in the first half. New Laker Cartier Bowman lead Oswego on the glass with 7 rebounds and Devin Green and Ahkee Anderson would each add 2 assists going on half.
The Warriors defense in the second half would give them the advantage in the half, causing many Oswego turnovers to start. Oswego would then go ahead and build another double-digit lead early in the half, and the Warriors would go on another 11 point run to give them a 46-45 lead. Despite their struggles offensively early, Oswego would then hit several clutch free throws late to help push them over the Warriors. Oswego would win the tournament in a 60-50 victory over the Warriors. Ahkee Anderson lead the Lakers with 21 points,3 assists and 2 steals. Jeremiah Sparks recorded his first double-double of the season scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Three Oswego players made the all tournament team with Ahkee Anderson, Jeremiah Sparks and Cartier Bowman making the team. With this win on Saturday, Coach Jason Leone also becomes the winningest coach in Oswego State Basketball History passing Kevin Broderick who coached the Lakers from 1996 until 2009 with a 209-150 record. Leone now stands at the very top of the record book with a 210-78 record in his twelfth year as the Lakers’ Head Men’s Basketball Coach.
IMAGE COURTESY OF OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego State Softball Splits with Golden Eagles
BROCKPORT, N.Y. — The Oswego State Softball team traveled to Brockport on Saturday eager for a doubleheader against the Golden Eagles. It was a tough go around for the Lakers this time as they split the double header (1-1) as well as the overall series this season (2-2). Brockport would take the first game in dominant fashion with a 8-1 victory and Oswego would edge the Golden Eagles in a last inning thriller with a final of 7-6.
The first game was all Brockport with 4 runs in the 3rd inning alone and up 5-0 by the third inning. It was pretty straight forward for the Golden Eagles, generating 8 hits and putting in 8 runs in the first matchup with 2nd baseman Cameryn Duggan leading the way with 3 runs of her own. Oswego’s Taylor Dubois was the only Laker to generate a run as she hit a homerun and now has 3 on her career as a Laker. As for the second game, the Lakers jumped ahead early being up 4-0 in the second inning. The Lakers were led by Fiona Higgins and Tai Smith who each had three hits a piece in the second game. Things got extra interesting at the end of the second game as Brockport has the bases loaded with zero outs when trailing 7-5. However, Oswego was able to keep the Golden Eagles partially at bay with a force out at home, a throwout on an RBI-single as well as a fly out to end the game.
The Lakers now move to 7-11 on the season as well as 5-9 in the division, Brockport now remains at .500 winning percentage in both the SUNYAC West as well as overall as they remain at 6-6. The Lakers look to test their strength in their next matchup against the red hot Cortland Red Dragons who are coming in on a six game winning streak and have beaten the Lakers in the last four matchups. First pitch is scheduled for Monday, May 3rd at 3:00 p.m and WTOP 10 will be covering the game as well.
Image Provided by Erin Blank, WTOP 10 Photography Department
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Men’s Hockey sweeps biggest weekend of season
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men’s hockey team came into the weekend with one goal in mind, sweeping the weekend and clinching a SUNYAC regular season title. The had the advantage of both games being at home, but both opponents coming in had playoff aspirations of their own.
Game one of the weekend was against the Buffalo State Bengals. The Lakers quickly put themselves at a disadvantage, taking two penalties, and bing 5-on-3 for a bit, but ultimately killed both. It took about seven minutes for the first goal to find netting. Trent Grimshaw grabbed his fourth goal of the season to get the Lakers on the board, but Buffalo State quickly answered. A little more than a minute later, Joe Glamos tied the game for the Bengals. The game remained at ones for a while, but the Lakers grabbed the lead back. Ryan Bunka gave his team lead. Once again, the lead only lasted a little more than a minute, Joe Glamos again tying the game up. The score ties at two, both squads went to the locker room. Cal Schell had six saves for Oswego in the first, Liam Gross, for Buffalo State had 13.
In the second period, the game remained at 2-2 for almost the entire time. Buffalo took one penalty during the period, but killed it. It took until less than four minutes for the first goal of the second frame to happen. Ryan Dickinson giving the Lakers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. With less than a minute to play in the frame Connor Gatto doubled the lead. Rocco Andreacchi and Shane Bull being credited with assists on both goals in the period, and Andreacchi getting his third of the game. Schell had another six saves in the period, Gross adding another 14.
The third period saw Trent Grimshaw continue his scoring ways. He would score twice getting his first collegiate hat-trick. His goals were split by one for Buffalo State. In the third, the Lakers had two power-play opportunities that they wouldn’t capitalize on. Oswego took the first game of the weekend, 7-3, and clinched at top-two seed in the playoffs. Ten different Lakers got a point in the game, five of them more than one. Schell ended the game with 17 saves, Gross had 38.
The final game of the Lakers regular season was Senior Night. The Lakers recognized all-their seniors in a post-game ceremony. The game was against the Fredonia Blue Devils. Once again the Lakers came out flying. Just past the six minute mark, Oswego found the scoreboard twice in 15 seconds. The first score came off the stick of Conor Smart. Quickly after the restart of play, it was Tommy Cahill giving Oswego a 2-0 lead. The Lakers weren’t done there though, Drake Semrad gave Oswego a 3-0 lead in the tenth minute of the first period. Alex DiCarlo wanted to be part of the scoring parade, scoring the Lakers fourth and final goal of the first period. Eight different Lakers got assists in the first. Cal Schell had eight saves in the first period, while Logan Dyck had 13.
The Blue Devils made a goalie switch in the second. Charles-Anthony Barbeau was put in net. The second period was Conor Smart‘s period. He scored the Lakers first two goals of the second, and scored his first collegiate hat-trick. Daniel Colabufo got himself one final goal of the regular season as well, in the third. Before the end of the period, Fredonia picked up a penalty, that would be impactful in the third. With a 7-0 lead going into the break, the Lakers looked good to secure their first regular season title since 2018-19, but still had one to go. Schell had seven saves in the second, Barbeau had 17.
Fredonia made another goalie switch in the third, giving Dalton Jerzak some game time in the final game. The penalty that carried through to the third quickly became impactful, Ben Addison getting his second goal of the season. Less than a minute later Garrett Clegg scored his first goal of the season, on his senior night. The rest of the game was scoreless and the Lakers walked away with a 9-0 victory and a SUNYAC regular season championship. Smart was the only Laker with multiple goals, but six Lakers got multiple assists, 11 total getting at least one assist. Schell finished the game with 20 saves, Jerzak had 16 saves in the third.
Oswego now awaits an opponent for the SUNYAC semi-final that will be played in Oswego, they will play the lowest remaining seed after the SUNYAC quarter-final games played on Wednesday night. The semi-final game will be played on Saturday at 7:00.
At the end of the regular season, Alex DiCarlo was the teams leading goal scorer with 12 throughout the season. Shane Bull was the team’s leading assist and point getter, with 18 assists and 27 points. Cal Schell finished the season with a 2.19 Goals Against Average and .924 save percentage.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY EMILY RUSINKO, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
