Oswego, N.Y. – The Oswego State Lakers welcomed the University of Rochester Yellowjackets to Laker Turf on Wednesday, as they sought to pick up their first win of the season. The Lakers faced a roadblock early on, though, as a lower-body injury to sharpshooter Tajay Ellis would render him unavailable for the rest of the contest, which proved to be critical in the end result.
The Lakers imposed an aggressive style of defense in the early stages, and it all but worked until the 33rd minute, when Kol Bassuk of the Yellowjackets connected on a strike to give his squad a 1-0 lead.
The Yellowjackets presented an even peskier style of defense, as they allowed just one shot from the Lakers through the first 45 minutes of play, denying any potential momentum that their opponent tried to conjure up.
Things became even more grim for the Lakers in the second half, as the backend struggled to protect keeper Max Mahlke, while no will was yet to be had on the offensive side of things. The Yellowjackets would eventually strike again, when Jasper Danielian found the back of the net in the 59th minute to further the margin to 2-0 in the Yellowjackets’ favor.
Max Mahlke played to the best of his abilities, but was ultimately dealt a tough deck of cards, as he faced 13 shots and saved five. The Lakers move to 0-2-2 after this result, and will hope to tack on their first win of the season in their next matchup, when they travel to Troy, N.Y. to take on the RPI Engineers.
Written by: Logan Weingartner
Photos by: Clay Kepler
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Men’s basketball dominates Red Dragons on senior day
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Lakers men’s basketball team looked to continue their win streak to 17 this past weekend when they hosted the Cortland Red Dragons for senior night on Saturday evening. The first half ended up being controlled by the Lakers but Cortland held Oswego tough in the first half. After the first ten minutes the score was 13-10 Lakers until Jamal Achille became the offensive spark for Oswego and started a Laker 6-0 where lone senior Devin Green chipped in and added four points over that same stretch. After that run the Lakers exploded on offense going on a 41-18 run the last 10 minutes of the first half shooting similarly from the field and from three-point range (58.06% FG%, 58.33% 3PT%). Oswego got out ahead and had a 54-28 at the half.Cortland tried to start off the half stronger as reigning SUNY-AC player of the year Austin Grunder made a couple big shots to start for the red dragons. But it wouldn’t last long as Kaleb Cook took over during a four-minute stretch during the second half, scoring ten points, while Cortland could only get 4. By that point Cortland couldn’t get anything to go and Oswego would cruise to a 102-62 for their 7th game over 100 points in this season. The Lakers also keep their 17 game streak alive, not losing since the loss to Brockport at home in December. Jeremiah Sparks and Devin Green both had 14 points for the game in a great shooting game for Oswego, but the game was led on Oswego’s side by Kaleb Cook, whose ten point outburst in the second half helped him score 16 for the game. Cortland’s Austin Grunder ended up with another double double in this game and was the only Cortland player that was a positive in this game leading all scorers with 24. Oswego’s bench outscored the Red Dragons 47-18. and the Lakers dominated in the paint beating Cortland 48-10.
Coach Leone gets his 300th career win as a coach and the Lakers move to 21-2,(15-1 SUNYAC). The men’s team will travel to Brockport, NY to face Brockport on Friday, February 17 in a revenge game as Brockport was Oswego’s only previous SUNYAC loss.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ERIN BLANK, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Men’s hockey losses tough conference matchup
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men’s hockey team took to home ice for their lone game of the weekend on Friday for a SUNYAC matchup with the Cortland Red Dragons. It was the second meeting between the two this season, the Lakers won the last matchup 5-4. Cortland found the scoreboard first. After a tripping call against Oswego’s Ryan Dickinson, the Red Dragons capitalized on the power play. The game remained 1-0 for a good chunk of the first period, both teams putting chances on net, but the goal tenders playing well. Oswego was next to score, tying the game. Connor Gatto was one-on-one with the goalie and made an excellent move to deke around him and have a wide open net behind for the game-tier. The Lakers then took the lead, Tommy Cahill firing one past the goalie for the 2-1 lead, but Cortland wouldn’t let it stand for long. The Red Dragons would tie it again before the end of the first, with less than a minute to go. When the first period finally ended it was 2-2. Cal Schell made seven saves, the Cortland’s goalie, Luca Durante‘s six.
The Second period was more tame than the first. Only one goal found netting, this one in favor of the Red Dragons. Cortland’s second power play goal of the game, on their final power play opportunity. The goal was scored just after the half way mark in the period. Oswego wasted three different power play opportunities of their own, at one point being on a 5-3 for just under a minute. Oswego did have 14 shots on goal in the period, all of them saved by Durante. Schell had another seven saves of his own, to go with the one allowed goal.
The Lakers would re-tie the game early in the third. Alex DiCarlo snuck one by Durante. The Lakers had another two power-play chances in the period that they couldn’t capitalize on, they were an abysmal 0-6 in the game on the powerplay. Despite plenty more chances for each side, neither team would score again, and the game would go to OT. Durante had 17 more saves in the period, Schell amounting another 8.
Overtime didn’t last long, just a minute in Cortland scored a wrap-around goal to win it 4-3. Luca Durante amassed 39 saves in the contest, Schell had 24. Oswego out shot Cortland 42-28, Tommy Cahill leading Oswego in shots with 8. Shane Bull assisted on two goals in the contest.
Oswego is now 8-0-3-1 in the SUNYAC, putting them in second place with 17 points behind Plattsburgh, while also playing one extra game. Their next game is next Friday against the Geneseo Ice Knights in Oswego, the game is themed “Into the Knight”. Puck drop is set for 7:00 P.M. Coverage will start on https://www.youtube.com/@WTOP10TV at 6:30 with Hockey Night in Oswego.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego State men’s hockey hosts semifinals of SUNYAC Championship
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The SUNYAC Championship for men’s hockey kicked off this past Saturday with two quarterfinal games, one in Cortland and the other up in North Country. Oswego State received a bye to semifinals round due to their performance in the regular season. The Lakers are the two seed in the bracket this season and after Saturday’s results, Oswego State will host SUNY Cortland to decide who will fight for the conference championship.
2021-22 Season Recap:
At the end of the regular season, the Lakers finished with an overall record of 17-6-1 and a SUNYAC conference record of 12-3-1 which was good for second in the conference standings. While in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena, Oswego State is 8-3-0 on home ice. The group started off 0-2 after two losses opening weekend against two nationally ranked nonconference opponents, Hobart College and Elmira College. The Lakers would go one a streak after that contest only dropping games against nationally ranked opponents like SUNY Geneseo and Augsburg University.
The team’s offense has been through senior captain Travis Broughman who was recently named to All-SUNYAC First Team due to his performance in the regular season. The Laker forward finished with thirteen goals and sixteen assists totaling to twenty nine points in only twenty four regular season games. Alex DiCarlo finished right behind his captain as was the only other Oswego State player that was above a point per game. The junior finished with thirteen goals and twelve assists for twenty five points.
Newcomers Connor Sleeth, Tyler Flack, and Tommy Cahill have been bright spots in the lineup after breaking out their first season in the green and gold uniform. The three combined for a total of forty eight points this season. Shane Bull also totaled twelve points in his first season in NCAA Division III men’s hockey.
On the defensive side of the puck, senior netminder Steven Kozikoski was named to the All-SUNYAC Second Team due to his performances in the regular season while in between the pipes for Oswego State. The Liverpool native logged over one thousand minutes of ice time and posted statistics like a 2.00 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. Backup goaltender Eric Green played in eight contests for the Lakers and finished with a 2.15 goals against average and a .889 save percentage.
SUNYAC Playoffs Preview:
Wednesday evening, SUNY Brockport will travel to SUNY Geneseo to face off against the number one seed and nationally ranked Ice Knights in a semifinal contest. Brockport defeated Plattsburgh State in overtime by a score line of 6-5. If Geneseo can get the job against the Golden Eagles, the Geneseo Ice Knights will host the Championship game once again in the IRA.
In terms of Oswego State hockey, the Lakers take on the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons for the 96th time in program history. This season, Oswego State defeated Cortland both times in the regular season, securing six points against the Red Dragons. Oswego State holds the history in their favor with a record against SUNY Cortland of 82-11-2 all time. Their first contest dates back to the 1976-77 season when Oswego State defeated SUNY Cortland by a score of 6-2 on home ice.
The matchup in the Marano Campus Center should feature an offensive team against some solid goaltending out of SUNY Cortland. The Lakers score on average 3.5 times per game while opponents can only net an average of 2.1 against Oswego State. In terms of Cortland, the Red Dragons score an average of 3.3 goals per game.
Game Details:
Oswego State Laker fans can catch the playoff game at 7:00 p.m. in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The first 500 SUNY Oswego Students will receive a gold Oswego State Lakers t-shirt courtesy of Oswego State Athletics. WTOP 10 will be live at 6:30 p.m. with the pre-game show live from the perch inside the arena. Fans can tune in at twitch.tv/wtop10tv on any mobile device, laptop, or television.
Image Provided By William Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
