OSWEGO — Hockey is back in Oswego and although they were exhibition matches, the atmosphere was electric. The Lady Lakers took on the London Jr. Devilettes and snuck in two goals late in the third period to secure a come from behind 4-3 win. Later that night, the men’s team took on Nazareth and it was a very physical game. The men scored three goals in the first period to jump out to an early lead and held them scoreless in the last two frames. Tanner Spink led the charge with two goals as the Lakers would pull away with a 5-2 win.
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Oswego State baseball wins biggest series of Year
OSWEGO N.Y. — The biggest and most anticipated series of the season finally came for the Lakers. The #5 ranked Cortland Red Dragons travelled up 1-81 to take on the Lakers at the Laker Baseball Stadium. The three game set started with game one Friday afternoon, and games two and three Saturday.
Game one started fast, with the Red Dragons finding the scoreboard in the top off the first inning. A lead off single, was then moved to second on a sac bunt. The runner would score on an ensuing single, and the Red Dragons took an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the third the Red Dragons struck again. A lead off double would move to third on a pass ball in the next at bat. After a foul out, a fly out to center would be deep enough to score the runner and Cortland took a 2-0 lead. It was the bottom of the third when the Lakers finally struck. Paul Tammaro led off with a triple. Ryan Enos‘s double drove him home for the Lakers first run. After a strike out, Lukas Olsson hit a two run home-run to give the Lakers a 3-2 lead. After a scoreless fourth and fifth, the Red Dragons found the scoreboard again in the sixth. They crossed the plate three times, but the Lakers weren’t letting them keep it for long. A Ryan Weiss lead off homer got the scoring starting in the bottom of the sixth. Julian Drew then got hit by a pitch. Two groundouts moved Drew to third and he was brought home by a wild pitch. After a walk and a bunt single, Ryan Enos drove home the sixth run on a single to center. Cortland tied it a six in the top of the seventh. It took until the top of the tenth for any runs to be scored. A lead off single moved to second on a sac bunt. A double drove him home, and Cortland grabbed a 7-6 lead. In the top of the tenth, Frank Levanti reached on an error to start the inning. Paul Tammaro moved him to second on a sac bunt. A Ryan Enos walk put runners on first and second. Kyle Lauria grounded into a fielder’s choice putting runners at first and third for Lukas Olsson. Olsson walked it off with a three run bomb, Oswego winning 9-7. Paul Tammaro and Lukas Olsson led the team with three hits each. Olsson also led the team with 5 RBIs. Jacob Sanders got the start for the Lakers, throwing 5 innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits and two walks, striking out three.
Game two of the series started just like the first, Cortland finding the scoreboard first. The first two batter of the inning would groundout, but three two-out singles brought home the first run of the game. Oswego answered right away. The first three batters for Oswego reached, loading the bases. A Lukas Olsson single brought home the first run for the Lakers, and the next at bat Ryan Weiss would clear the bases with a grand slam giving the Lakers a 5-1 lead after one. Cortland fought back in the second. The lead-off hitter reached on an error, and a home run in the next at bat brought the lead down to 5-3. In the bottom of the second, the first two batters would reach for Oswego. A Kyle Lauria single brought home the sixth run for the Lakers. After Lukas Olsson was intentionally walked, a passed ball brought home the seventh run. A few batters later, another passed ball brought home the final run if the inning for the Lakers. Cortland kept the pressure up in the third. A one-out grand slam brought the deficit down to 8-7. After all the fireworks of the first few frames, no runs were scored after the top of the third, and the Lakers won the seven inning game one of the double header. Paul Tammaro led the Lakers in hits, going 4-4 and scoring two runs. Ryan Weiss‘s four RBIs were enough to lead the Lakers. Kyle Finnegan got the start for Oswego, going 5.1 innings. He allowed eight runs, seven earned, on eight hits and two walks, striking out two. He was relieved by Ben Wilcox who pitched the final 1.2 innings allowing one hit and striking out three.
The final game of the series had the Lakers looking for their brooms going for the sweep. Unlike the previous two games, the first run wasn’t scored until the bottom of the fifth inning. Tim Shinto was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He would score in the next at bat on a series of errors by Cortland. Two consecutive walks would load the bases for Kyle Lauria who would also walk, to bringing home the second run. Lukas Olsson would follow the third consecutive walk with a grand slam, giving the Lakers a 6-0 lead. Cortland found their stride in the top of the sixth, bringing home four runs. Oswego scored two in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead to 8-4. A scoreless seventh and eight led to the top of the ninth. A lead-off walk was followed by a two run homer, bringing the lead down to 8-6. Three straight walks, loaded the bases, and a wild pitch brought home the seventh run, with still no outs. Another walk reloaded the bases, before the Lakers finally got the first out on a strike out. A passed ball allowed the another runner to score, tying the game. A another strike out, was followed by a single, bringing home two, and Cortland took the lead 10-8. Oswego got two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t get them across the plate, and the late rally by Cortland getting them the win and avoiding a sweep. Three Lakers tied for the lead in hits with 2. Lukas Olsson led the way with six RBIs. Anthony Van Fossen got the start on the mound for Oswego. He pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs, all earned, on seven hits and no walks, striking out three.
The Lakers are now 24-8 (13-2 SUNYAC). Oswego has four games left this season, a mid-week matchup with #20 St. John Fisher at home, and final three game set with the Fredonia Blue Devils in Fredonia next weekend. As of May 3, the Lakers climbed up to #14 in the country, and Cortland fell to #13 after the losses to the Lakers.
IMAGE COURTESY OF OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego State women’s hockey completes comeback against SUNY Potsdam
POTSDAM N.Y. — The Oswego women’s hockey team is in the midst of a fight for playoff seeding in the NEWHL. Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup in Potsdam they had three games remaining. The game against the Bears was a big one, the Lakers have already clinched a spot in the playoffs, but Potsdam still fighting for that final seed.
The Lakers took the first period. The lone goal of the period coming on the power play. Morgan Shines passed the puck up to the offensive blue line. Captain Philomena Teggart grabbed the puck and skated to the middle, Shines and Mack Hull set up a screen in front of goal and Teggart took a shot low on the goalies glove side and put it just inside the post. The Lakers killed a late power play for the Bears, and finished the first up on the scoreboard. They dominated the period, winning shots on goal 18-4.
The Lakers almost beat themselves at the start of the second period. A power play three minutes into the period for the Bears and a power play nine minutes in both got killed by the Lakers, with Laker goalie Joanna Hiebert making a few nice saves to keep the Lakers up. Unfortunately, quickly after the end of the second power play the Bears tied the game. Potsdam won possession at their offensive blue line setting up a two-on-two, and forward Kaylee Merrill threatened a pass but took it herself and scored a goal that was assisted by former Laker Megan Teachout. Just four minutes later Merrill picked off a Laker pass and took it one-on-one down the ice and scored a shorthanded goal to give the Bears a 2-1 lead and get her second goal of the night. Oswego again led in shot 15-11.
The third period started with the Lakers finishing off a penalty kill. The Lakers would go on the penalty kill again just before the three minute mark in the period. The Laker would kill it and clear the puck out of the defensive zone. The puck would skip a Bears players stick and Morgan Shines would gather and shoot it to the high blocker side for her team leading ninth goal and tie the game back up at two a piece with fifteen to go. The Lakers would go on a power play with 7:30 to go. Chyne Kennedy would make a key play to keep stop Potsdam for clearing the puck. She would pass the puck to Simone Bednarik who would pass it to Ariella Haas would put the puck in the back of the net for what was the game winning goal. The Lakers defensive would step up and stop a few Potsdam chances, including a late penalty kill, and the game would finish 3-2 in the Lakers favor. Joanna Hiebert would finish the game with twenty saves and improve her record to 10-3-1.
With the win, the Lakers have now won six straight and have a record of 14-0-7-1 (11-0-4-1 NEWHL). They are currently tied with Cortland in the standings, but sit a seed below due to the tiebreaker being head-to-head with the one seed, in this case Plattsburgh. The Lakers have two games left in the season and need to win out and need Cortland to lose one of their final two, both against SUNY Canton. The first of the Lakers final two games is Friday February, 18 in Morrisville against the Mustangs. WTOP10 will have continuing coverage of the Oswego women’s hockey team through the rest of the season and NEWHL playoffs.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY SHELBY PEPLOWSKI, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
