The SUNY Oswego Women’s Ice Hockey team claimed victory against the William Smith Herons in their final game of the 2025-2026 regular season on February 21st.
The Lakers started out strong, showing great offence with attacking Heron’s net at full force. Lilliana Ficaro and Leah Coley both scored goals just minutes apart to open up the game. Despite that, William Smith would soon answer back just 31 seconds after the Lakers second goal. Goalie Mia DeVivo wasn’t challenged as she only blocked 7 shots compared to William Smith’s goalie, Mia Iwicki who blocked 21 shots on goal from the goal hungry Lakers.
The Lakers would head into intermission being up 2-1.
The second period started off slow with William Smith getting two penalties. William Smith turned up their offense adding 13 shots on net, but DeVivo stood tall between the pipes blocking each and every one of those shots. The Lakers offense really showed out in the second period but failure to connect their passes led to a scoreless second period.
The third period started off with Oswego Leah Cooley in the box for highsticking just over five minutes into the period. The Lakers penalty kill was strong, keeping the team momentum. While another scoreless period for both teams. Mia Devio showed out with a .974 save percentage.
With the 2-1 victory for the Lakers, they moved up to the third seed spot in the SUNYAC’s.
The Oswego Lakers will play their first game in the SUNYAC’s on Saturday February 28th, their opponent has not yet been determined.
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Men’s Hockey splits high ranked opening weekend
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State Lakers men’s hockey team took to both road and home ice this weekend for the first official games of their season. The weekend started with a Friday night trip to Geneva, NY to take on the Hobart Statesmen, followed by a Saturday night matchup in the Deb against the Elmira Soaring Eagles. The opening weekend was a real test for the Lakers as both squads they faced were ranked higher than them in the uscho preseason poll, Hobart #5 and Elmira #9.
The game started off pretty even for both the Lakers and the Statesmen as they each would get shots off on each others goalies. An early Hobart penalty gave the Lakers their first real opportunity for a goal all season, but the Statesmen killed it and only allowed a single shot on the net during the two minutes. Not even a minute later, Conor Smart would be called for hooking giving Hobart their first chance of the season and they would capitalize. Halfway through the penalty Hobart would score giving them the 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the contest. Oswego would be called for another penalty with eight minutes left, but net-minder Eric Green would save two shots and keep the Statesmen from extending their lead. Green finished the period with six saves.
Hobart came out of the gates swinging in the second half, getting four shots off in the first minute of play. It was Oswego who scored first in the period though. A Connor Sleeth face-off win would go back to Ryan Dickinson who passed the puck to Quinn Warmuth who buried the puck in the back of the net from the blue line. It was a very chippy period for both teams, each receiving three penalties, at one point, there was only a 3v3 on the ice. The Statesmen recovered from the 3v3 first and actually got themselves back to full strength 5v3, where they would score twice. The second period ended 3-1 Statesmen. Green had another 14 saves in the period.
It only took 11 seconds for Hobart to extend their lead in the final period, winning the opening face-off and quickly moving down ice to make it 4-1. The Lakers would hold them off for a while in the third, but with just under six minutes left the Statesmen struck again, extending it to 5-1. Oswego would pull one back on the power-play. Tommy Cahill scored, assisted by Matt McQuade. Hobart out-shot the Lakers in the contest 59-43 and dominated on the powerplay, scoring on 3-4 chances. Eric Green had 32 saves in the game. Connor Sleeth led the Lakers in shots with six and was 17-29 in the face-off circle.
The Lakers were back in the Deborah. F. Stanley ice arena Saturday night for their official home opener and the Teal Night Game. The Teal Night game for both the men’s and women’s teams raises awareness for Ovarian Cancer and takes donations for Ovarian Research in memory of the late Mary Gosek. For more information you go can to http://peacefulremediesoswego.com The Lakers were wearing their teal jerseys for the game against Elmira. The first goal of the game was in favor of the Lakers. A pass from Connor Sleeth back to the blue line to Shane Bull, usually a forward but was filling in on defense for the game, buried one past the goalie just before the half way mark in the first period. A little more than two minutes later the Soaring Eagles were called for holding and went a man down. With the Lakers on the power play, Matt McQuade brought the puck up the right side passed it off to Connor Sleeth who put it over the goalies shoulder for the Lakers second goal of the game. The Lakers put 22 shots on net in the first period.
The Lakers came out soaring in the second period, scoring 19 seconds in. Daniel Colabufo shooting one across his body and across the goal to give Oswego a 3-0 lead. Tommy Cahill got the assist. It was again the Lakers adding to their lead, halfway through the second frame. Coming off a face-off win by Ben Addison went back to Shane Bull. Bull passed it to Tommy Cahill who sent it pass the goalie. A penalty with five minutes to go gave Elmira their first scoring opportunity, and they took advantage of it. On a two-man advantage, they put on past goalie Richie Parent, who got the start in net. The Lakers had five players with two points by the end of the period.
In the final frame, the Lakers kept pushing the pace and scored again just under four minutes in. Tommy Cahill shot it low off the goalies blocker on a two-on-two opportunity and Daniel Colabufo took the rebound and scored for his second of the game. Another Lakers penalty allowed the Soaring Eagles to score the final goal of the game. Again with a two-man advantage, they put one past Parent for their second goal of the game and the final one of the game. Colabufo led the team with two goals, three different Lakers were credited with two goals. Seven different Lakers had two points. Richie Parent had 15 saves on the game. Elmira was two for three on the Powerplay during the game. This was the Lakers first point against a ranked opponent since February, 2019 when they tied a then ranked #2 Geneseo.
Oswego is now 1-1 this season. They jumped up to #10 in the uscho poll after the weekend. They have a big weekend ahead, opening SUNYAC play with Whiteout weekend. They take on Plattsburgh on Friday, puck drop set for 7:00, WTOP10 will have a hour long pregame show, going live at 6:00 P.M. The Potsdam Bears come to town on Saturday, puck drop set for 7:00 P.M.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE QUIACHON, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT.
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Men’s soccer wins big over Potsdam
POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Oswego State Men’s soccer team took a trip north to take on SUNYAC foe, the Potsdam Bears. The team was looking to build off the non-conference win over Utica earlier in the week. The Lakers found momentum earlier, getting off four shots on goal in the first ten minutes, the last one finding the back of the net. Nikola Kovacevic put it past the goalie assisted by Caleb Munski. The offense slowed down the rest of the half, though they did get another three shots on goal throughout the remaining 35 minutes, nine shots in total in the half. Potsdam only had three shots in the half, one of them being on target.
The second half was where the Lakers took charge and never looked back. Kieran Gilroy scored not even a minute into the second frame, assisted by Ryan Contreras. The Bears were then given a red card thirty seconds later to bring them down to ten men. The second goal of the half would come not even a minute after the red card, Liam Rothar beating the goalie, assisted by Brendan Murphy. Kyle Gehrich gave the Lakers their fourth goal, just five minutes after the third, this one assisted by Jason Wuytack. Just over a minute later Kilroy Gilroy scored his second of the game, this time assisted by Anastasios Diacovasilas. The Lakers goal onslaught took a twenty minute break, until David Cadet scored the sixth and final goal of the game, assisted by Jean Pierre Moquizilla. Oswego won 6-0 and kept their first shutout of the season, freshman Andre Bourjolly played most of the game in net, with Finnian Costello playing the final 13 minutes.
The Lakers now have a record of 4-5-1 (1-2-1 SUNYAC). Their next matchup is a Wednesday night matchup at home with SUNY Geneseo on October 5.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MICHELLE QUIACHON, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Softball loses five over hard weekend matchups
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State softball team played six games over four days this weekend. A Friday double header in New Paltz against the Hawks was followed by a Saturday double header in Oneonta with the Red Dragons, the team had a day off Sunday, but played another double header at home against the Plattsburgh Cardinals Monday.
Friday’s first game in New Paltz saw the Hawks grab an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Two two-out singles were followed by a triple, bringing that brought both runners home to open the scoring. In the bottom of the second the Hawks would strike again. A two-out double was followed by a single. A throwing error would bring home the lead runner, and another triple would bring home the other runner. No more runs would be scored until the seventh inning, where the Lakers finally found the score sheet. Two one-out singles were followed by Madison Hoeflich reaching on an error, that would score the first runner of the inning for the Lakers. Ellie Mahoney then grounded out the the Shortstop, but would bring home another run. A Samantha Morgan double brought home the third run of the inning for the Lakers, but the scoring would end there, and Oswego fell 4-3. The Lakers only had four hits on the day, no batter having more than one, and a lone walk. Freshman Maria Lutz pitched all six innings for Oswego, allowing four runs, nine hits, two walks, and striking out two.
Game two of the double header was a more convincing win for New Paltz. The Hawks scored one in the first, but Oswego would match the run the second on a Ellie Mahoney single. Errors in the bottom half of the second brought home two more runs, and a two out double in the third brought home run number four for the Hawks. The bottom of the fourth was started by a single for New Paltz which was followed by a double driving home the run. Oswego got two consecutive pop-outs after, but a single drove home the sixth run. Oswego held New Paltz scoreless in the fifth, but three runs in the sixth triggered the mercy rule, and the game ended 9-1 in favor of the Hawks. Zoe Mennig led the Lakers with two hits, and Madison Hoeflich led the Lakers with two walks. Fiona Higgins had a rough day on the mound. She allowed fifteen hits, nine runs, eight earned, and walked three, she would strike out six.
The Lakers took the two hour trip to Oneonta for the Saturday double header. The Lakers found the scoreboard in the top of the first in game one. Tai Smith led off with a walk, and she was moved to second by a sac bunt. Taylor Dubois hit a double moving Smith to third, and a fielder’s choice in the next at bat scored the run. The Lakers held the Red Dragons scoreless until the third inning, when a lead off triple would be driven in by a sac fly to tie the game. Oneonta scored once more in the fourth inning, and twice more in the fifth. In the sixth, a two out single, then stole second and was driven in by a double. Oswego wouldn’t score in the seventh, and the game ended 5-1 Oneonta. Taylor Dubois led Oswego with two hits. Tai Smith got on base three times, a hit and a team leading two walks. Maria Lutz pitched all six innings once again, allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits and no walks, striking out two.
Game two of the second double header saw Oneonta grab a big lead in the bottom of the first, scoring four. The next run wouldn’t be scored until the top of the third, when Taylor Dubois hit a lead off double and was then drive in by Zoe Mennig’s double in the next at bat. A scoreless fourth was followed by a scoreless top of the fifth, and the Red Dragons broke the scoreless streak in the bottom of the fifth, crossing the plate once. Oneonta grabbed two more in the bottom of the sixth, and the Lakers, trying to rally could only manage one in the top of the seventh, a Zoe Mennig solo shot to left, and the Red Dragons took game two, 7-2. Samantha Morgan led the Lakers, going three for three at the plate. Zoe Mennig drove in both runs for Oswego. Madison Hoeflich got the start for the Lakers, but only pitched one inning, allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits, striking out two. Chelsea Sellars pitched the remaining five innings for Oswego, allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits, and four strike outs.
The Lakers took a much needed day off Sunday, and took to the diamond for two more Monday to take on the Cardinals of Plattsburgh. The Cardinals went 1-2-3 in the top of the first, and the Lakers struck first in the bottom half. The first two batters would get out, then Taylor Dubois and Zoe Mennig would reach on errors. Fiona Higgins drove in both with a double. The second inning was scoreless, and Plattsburgh grabbed their first run in the top of the third on an error. Two more scoreless innings brought the game to the sixth, where the Cardinals struck again. The Lakers committed two errors to start the inning, allowing two runners on base. A single by the next batter loaded the bases, and another single drove in the first run of the inning, second of the game for the Cardinals. A pop out to second got out number one of the inning, and a fly out to center got the second out, but also drove in the runner from third, for the third run of the game and the lead for Plattsburgh. Another single drove in the fourth run, and the walk that followed reloaded the bases. Another single brought home two more, and Plattsburgh got out of the inning with a 6-2 lead. Oswego wouldn’t score after the first, and lost the game. Fiona Higgins led Oswego with two hits and two RBIs. Maria Lutz pitched all seven innings, doing the whole game for the third time over the weekend. She allowed six runs, two earned, do to three errors on the Lakers. Lutz struck out four and walked three during the game
The Lakers finally turned things around in game two of the double header, and the final one of the weekend. The Lakers scored three times in the bottom of the first on hits by Zoe Mennig and Fiona Higgins. Neither team would score until Oswego did in the bottom of the fifth. Fiona Higgins drove in the fourth run for Oswego on a double, and in the next at bat, Madison Hoeflich brought in one more on a single. The Lakers scored two more in the inning on a single and a sacrifice hit, bringing their total to seven in the game. Zoe Mennig brought in one more run in the bottom of the sixth, triggering the mercy rule. Zoe Mennig went 4-4 at the plate, driving in two runs, and scoring two of her own. Fiona Higgins was the star of the day though. She went 2-3 at the plate driving in three runs, and pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six, while only allowing two hits and two walks.
The Lakers get the next three days off, until the play a double header Friday against the Brockport golden eagles at home, game one set to start at 3:00 P.M. They play their final series of the season against Geneseo at home Saturday with a double header. The lakers now sit a 9-22 (4-10 SUNYAC). They are currently eighth in the SUNYAC, two games back of Fredonia in the six seed, the final spot in the SUNYAC playoffs.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OSWEGO ATHLETICS
