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.
-
Oswego High School Hockey Season Recap and Sectionals Preview
CORTLAND, NY — Oswego Buccaneers Hockey has been preparing this past week as the team gets set to head on the road to Cortland-Homer for the first round of Sectionals. The Division II Section III 2020 Sectional Tournament begins this Thursday as the Oswego Cortland-Homer match up is the first of two quarterfinal games being played. New Hartford is set to travel to Clinton Arena to face Clinton Friday evening for the second game. All four of these teams have a tough road ahead however, as the lowest remaining seed will go on to face Skaneateles, the current number one team in the entire state. The highest remaining seed will head to play the 15-3-1 Whitesboro Warriors who finished the season with a 9-1-1 division record.
The Buccaneers season has been up and down as the group finished only 4-8 in division but had an overall record of 11-9. The team began back in November with two games against Section V opponents that ended with two wins over Notre Dame and Churchville-Chili. The Bucs would head into division play in December as the team would drop two games to New Hartford and Clinton before heading to Albany in which the group won two games against Section II opponents. The rest of December would be back and forth before the team went on a five game win streak to start the new calendar year. This streak began against Spencerport who is based out of Section V. At the time, the Rangers were ranked 13th in the state in which the team has now moved up to 8th. With this win streak, Oswego would end up being ranked as high as 13th statewide over the course of the season. This streak however would end quickly after losing 6-0 to Skaneateles and would continue into a three game losing streak that occurred against divisional opponents. The Buccaneers would get one win going into February against Auburn but would drop their final two regular season games, one being against their upcoming opponent Cortland-Homer.
Cortland-Homer finished 5-7 in division this season as the Golden Eagles scored a total of 42 goals against division opponents, second just behind Skaneateles who finished with 58. In comparison to Oswego, the Bucs only scored 26 points in their division games which is the second lowest out of the seven teams. In their two games against each other, each team got a win as Oswego defeated the Golden Eagles 4-3 during their 5 game win streak. However, on February 4th, the Bucs would fall to Cortland-Homer 6-1 at home.
Most of this season’s success have come from new upper class who have stepped up and taken larger roles on the team. Junior Ryan Bartlett has recorded 24 points (8 goals and 16 assists) in only his 12 games played. Bartlett has not played since Oswego’s game against New Hartford on January 13th. The junior has doubled his points totals compared to last season even though he has missed a good amount of the season. If the Buccaneers could add him back into the line up for Thursday nights game, Oswego’s chances of moving on in sectionals will definitely increase. Oswego also leans on their junior goaltender Brandon Demling who last year only got a total of 39 minutes in between the pipes. With a total of 359 saves and a goals against average of a 3.07, the junior has stepped into the starting position and has allowed the Bucs to win some close games. Demling has played both games against Cortland-Homer this season and you can expect him in net tomorrow evening in Cortland. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. from the J.M. McDonald Sports Complex in Cortland.
-
Progress Report: Oswego State men’s basketball
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball has had a hot start to the season. They boast a 7-1 record and are undefeated in SUNYAC play over four games. The Lakers started their season on a three game win streak. They hosted the Max Ziel Tournament, beating Elmira and Hobart handily to win the whole thing. They followed the tournament with a non-conference win over Clarkson. They finished their early slate of non-conference games with their lone loss against the Nazareth Golden Flyers on November 23 in a nail bitter, they lost by two points. They opened SUNYAC play on November 30, and have won all four games thus far, beating Cortland, Buffalo State, Brockport, and Fredonia.
The team is led by Senior guard Julien Crittendon who has 12.1 points per game, while getting 2.4 rebounds per game and is second on the team is steals per game at 1.6. The team’s leader in steals per game is Freshman Guard Ahkee Anderson at 2.1 per game. Anderson also leads the team in assists at 3.9 while also contributing 8.0 points and 2.6 rebounds. Junior Guard Devin Green is the teams sharpshooter. He is hitting threes at .457% clip, which leads the team. He contributes 8.5 points per game and collects 4.5 rebounds per game. Oswego’s glass cleaner is Sophomore guard Jeremiah Sparks with 7.0 rebounds per game, while also being second on the team in scoring at 11.9. Grad Transfer Brendon Mulson has also made his impact. He averages 9.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while being a very efficient .448% from the field shooting.
As a team, the defense is what makes them stand out. They lead the SUNYAC in points against per game at 55.8, a whole 10 points lower than second best Brockport. Against conference foes its an even better 53.3 against per game. The offense is middle of the pack so far. They average 74.0 points per game, which sits them seventh.
Currently, the team sits second in the SUNYAC, behind Geneseo who are 4-3, 3-0 in conference. They have seventeen games remaining in the season. They come out of their eighteen day break in the St. John Fisher Tournament against Rensaeller Polytechnic Institute on December 29. The winner will face the winner of St. John Fisher and Medaille on December 30. RPI currently sits 21 in the most recent men’s basketball rankings, while Oswego received 10 votes. No other SUNYAC team received votes or are ranked. The team has three non-conference games remaining, including the tournament, followed by fourteen games of conference play to finish the season. WTOP 10 will have continuing coverage of all home men’s basketball games throughout the season as the Lakers look to continue their early success.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY SHELBY PEPLOWSKI, WTOP 10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
-
Women’s Hockey nets 15 to defeat King’s and Wilkes
OSWEGO — The Oswego women’s hockey team took their inaugural weekend on the road and walked away with two dominating wins over King’s College and Wilkes University. The Lakers would net a total of 15 goals and would get back on the bus back to Oswego conceding only one. Junior Eryn Stewart who contributed with three goals and three assists on the weekend. The Lakers will travel to Buffalo this meeting for a double-header against the Bengals.
