OSWEGO, N.Y. — On Sunday, the Oswego State women’s hockey team will return home to host non-conference opponent Utica College. The Pioneers will travel west down Interstate-90 to take on the Lakers in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The 3:00 p.m. puck drop will feature the Utica College team that currently holds an overall record of 9-2. The team currently is second in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference with an 8-0-0 conference record. On the other side, the Lakers are 6-2-1 heading into the matchup after having four contests cancelled this week due to COVID-19 concerns. Oswego State is also third in the NEWHL conference and has a conference record of 3-2-1.
The Pioneers were supposed to take on number one team in the nation Middlebury College prior to their matchup with Oswego State but the game was postponed most likely due to COVID-19. In terms of the matchup history, the Lakers are 9-15-2 against the Pioneers but Oswego State is currently on a two-game win streak against the non-conference opponent. Their last game was February 8th, 2020 in which the Lakers won 2-1 on the road. While in the national spotlight, the Oswego State Lakers are ranked sixteenth in the pairwise ranking while the Utica College Pioneers are two spots behind them in eighteenth. Faceoffs will be a big part of the contest as both teams head into the contest with a percentage higher than .580. Oswego State forwards Morgan Shines and Rachel Corbett will be essential in the faceoff circles on Sunday. The Lakers offense, led by Ariella Haas and Megan Teachout will need to continue their dominance Sunday afternoon after scoring an average of 3.1 goals a game in the first half of the season.
WTOP 10 will be live on twitch.tv/wtop10tv at 2:45 p.m. prior to puck drop in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The student run television station will continue to provide coverage for the Oswego State women’s hockey team as the group continues their 2021-22 season.
Image Provided By Diana Vitale, WTOP 10 Photography Department
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Oswego Women’s Hockey secures Interim Head Coach
OSWEGO, NY — On Wednesday, June 17, the announcement was made by Oswego State Interim Athletics Director Eric Summers that the Women’s Ice Hockey team would be getting a new head coach, that being Mark Digby. Digby was the associate head coach of the team last season along side Diane Dillon, who will most likely retire from coaching. Dillon coached the team for 14 seasons. Digby will now be the Interim Head Coach heading into the 2020-21 season.
Digby graduated from SUNY Brockport in 2005 with a B.S. in Physical Education and M.S. in Recreation Management (2008). He would stay west of Rochester to be an assistant coach of the Men’s Hockey program from 2006-2010 before being hired by Oswego in the summer of 2010. Under Ed Gosek, Digby would be with the team while the group appeared in six NCAA tournaments, two frozen fours, and two national championship games.
In the Spring of 2019, Digby would make the switch to Women’s Hockey and join the team as the Associate Head Coach. During his first season with the group, the team would finish with a record of 16-7-4, the most wins for the program since the 2016-17 campaign. The Lakers would fall to the Plattsburgh Cardinals, the top team in the nation, in the NEWHL Championship. This was the first time the team has made the championship game after joining the conference. Overall, the group has made steady improvements and is in a good spot heading into the 2020-21 season under Digby. There looks to be a continued healthy relationship between the players and the coaching staff after Digby joined prior to this past season. WTOP 10 will continue to update you on all of the Oswego State teams heading into the fall season.
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Lakers Fall Short Against Bears
POTSDAM, NY- The Lakers fell short to the Potsdam Bears 64-54 in Potsdam on Saturday in a game where the Lakers took the lead early but were unable to capitalize in the second half.The first quarter started off the way the Lakers wanted to draw it up as both Logan Castiglione and Shania Iglesias connected on three-pointers to give the Lakers a 6-2 lead with 8:11 in the first quarter. Castiglione would lead the Lakers at the end of the first quarter with eight points including two three-pointers. The Lakers would shoot from over 50% in the field in the first. The Lakers would lead 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter started with the Bears going on a 9-0 run to take an 18-17 lead over the Lakers. The Lakers struggled from the field only shooting from 25% in the quarter. Shania Iglesias led the Lakers with nine points at the half. The Lakers barely edged out the Bears at the half leading 26-24.
The second half started with Karleigh Leo making a layup to give the Lakers a 28-24 lead early in the third. After a missed three-pointer by Diamond Pickett, the Bears went on a 6-0 run that included a three-pointer as they took a 35-29 with 3:57 left in the third. The Bears managed to shoot at 57.14% from the field in third compared to Oswego’s 40%. The Bears would knock down three three-pointers in the third as they led the Lakers 43-39 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lakers managed to cut the lead to two with two Diamond Pickett free-throws. Karleigh Leo would hit the Lakers only three-pointer of the second half to cut the Potsdam lead to two at 48-46. The Lakers were unable to rally to tie the game or take the lead as the Bears maintained their lead throughout the rest of the fourth quarter. The Bears would knock down three more three-pointers in the fourth quarter as they would score six total three-pointers in the second half. The Bears would go on to win 64-54.
The Lakers will face off in Plattsburgh against the Cardinals on Sunday, December 11th at Memorial Hall. The Cardinals are coming off an embarrassing blowout to Cortland 70-39.
PHOTO CREDITS PROVIDED BY OSWEGO STATE ATHLETICS
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Lakers field hockey wins season finale
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego state field hockey team won their regular season finale over Morrisville on the Laker turf Wednesday. Oswego started out the contest strong offensively starting with a Kacie Simzer goal just over 2 minutes into the contest. The Lakers would receive several penalty corners following the goal in the first quarter. Oswego kept their foot on the gas through the rest of the first and had 7 shots in the first half compared to the mustangs 0. Kacie Simzer would quickly strike again for the Lakers, just over 2 minutes into the second quarter assisted by Megan Delaney. Oswego was able to keep the pressure on with several penalty corners. That eventually led to another goal at the 28 minute mark from Kacie Simzer who would get a hat trick on the day, recording her third goal of the afternoon with an assist from Kate Mcnally. Following another corner for the Lakers, Kate Mcnally was able to get one of her own scoring the fourth goal for the Lakers right before the end of the first half. The Lakers closed out the first half with a dominant performance, getting 20 shots off against the Mustangs. Oswego had 13 corners in the first half of play which allowed Oswego to hold a 4-0 lead at the half.Oswego would continue their high scoring affair through the start of the third quarter, adding another goa just 4 minutes into play by Kaitlyn Ahle assisted by Nancy Pagliaroli. The Lakers controlled the third quarter continuing to allow no opportunities for the Mustangs. Kaitlyn Mastracco was able to get in on the action and she scored the sixth goal on the day for the Lakers, scoring just over 3 minutes into the fourth quarter. Kacie Simzer would continue her great day recording her fourth goal of the afternoon with just under 10 minutes remaining in play. Simzer tied her career high for goals, and also tied the school record yet again. Oswego would finish the contest allowing 0 shots against Erica Scheblein and attempting 34 shots on offense.
The Lakers finished off their season with an 8-8 record, and also recorded their first SUNYAC win, giving them a 1-5 conference record on the year. Heather Moore finishes her final game as the Lakers coach with a win in a position she held for 6 seasons
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE QUIACHON, WTOP PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
