OSWEGO — The Lakers defeated the Nazareth Golden Flyers in a quick three sets on Wednesday at the Max Ziel Gymnasium. The Golden Flyers came into the match 9-8 with a steady 3-1 away record. Lauren Fie and Julia Flohr led Oswego with two long serving runs that secured the first set. They would need to battle back in the other two sets to sweep Nazareth and improve to 14-6 overall. Shauna O’Flaherty, Senior, stood out with 13 kills and 2 blocks along with Lauren Fie’s 3 aces throughout the match. The team looks to take the recent success on the road for a 4-game road trip that starts with Plattsburgh this Friday. Oswego still has six matches SUNYAC games left before starting SUNYACS in early November.
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Lakers Clinch Victory Over Fisher in Exhibition Outing
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State Lakers women’s hockey team unofficially kicked off their newest campaign, welcoming St. John Fisher to The Deb for an exhibition match with the Cardinals on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Equal levels of competition were had throughout the first 20 minutes, as both squads came through blazing. The Lakers applied a heavy offensive attack that allowed for 20 shots on net in just the first period, although the Cardinal faithful stood tall; first-year goaltender Brynn Bacak fended off the flurry, and the first period concluded as scoreless.
Undisciplined play from the Cardinals in the second period proved to be costly, as the Lakers gained a man-advantage early on due to two penalty calls on the first-year program. The Lakers capitalized upon this opportunity, as they connected on the powerplay at 16:15, gaining a 1-0 advantage over the visiting squad.
The Lakers, with a sudden charge in momentum, continued to decimate the Cardinal attack. Seconds before the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of period two, Ohio native Lauren Ricobelli widened the score gap to two goals, as the freshman knocked in a tip to give the Lakers a comfortable 2-0 lead heading into the tunnel.
Coming into the final frame, the Cardinals were determined to make a conversion. The Lakers returned to full-strength after a 5-on-3 disadvantage, but the favor remained on the opposition’s side, as the Cardinals finally found the nylon, chipping away as they lessened the deficit.
The Lakers remained undeterred, though, as a faceoff win, courtesy of George Cunliffe, would allow the squad to take on a successful possession. First-year sniper Liliana Ficaro, in a sea of white and red jerseys, navigated to the puck, and slapped one past the blocker of Bacak. The Lakers then took a 3-1 advantage, and the defense would remain firm in the waning minutes of the concluding period, as the Lakers put the finishing touches on a 3-1 victory.
Before the Lakers get an official start on their season, they are set to take on Nazareth in one final exhibition outing at The Deb, on Saturday, Oct. 25. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m., on Teal Night.
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Lakers Fly Past Cardinals in SUNYAC Tournament Berth
For the 19th straight season, the Oswego State Lakers have clinched the SUNYAC Tournament and what a better way to do it than on Valentine’s day. The Lakers defeated the Cardinals on Friday night during their six point victory thanks to a combined, 43 point effort from seniors Brandon Gartland and Joe Sullivan.
Plattsburgh kept it close throughout the first half while using their best rendition of ‘Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better’. Each time the Lakers grabbed a bucket on one end, the Cardinals always had an answer. Oswego held the lead by four points or less through the first ten minutes of the contest but three minutes later, with an already shallow selection on the bench, Plattsburgh Head Coach Mike Blaine had some decision making to do following the injury of Forward Jeremy Eisenmen. Eisenmen went down hard after crashing the boards and was clutching his left knee. He was able to put pressure on it but would not return to the game.
In his absence, Matt Bernhard, a 5’10” stud off the bench, executed a perfect first half of shooting off the bench. Aside from his one missed free throw, he shot 3-3 from distance and 4-4 from the field ending with 12 of the Cardinals 34 points at halftime.
Brandon Gartland shot five for eight from behind the arc in the first half, good enough to lead the book with 15 points at the break. Joe Sullivan was a vital part of the first half for the Lakers tallying nine free throw attempts and sinking five of them. Sullivan struggled to find his rhythm early on but that would change going into the second half.
General Joe flipped the switch coming out of the locker room scoring 12 of his 21 in the second frame. Sullivan shot 5-13 in the second half and ended with 8 rebounds and 8 assists to add onto his impressive scoring performance. Coach Leone was happy with his big man’s performance.
“Joe plays hard every night,” Leone said. “He’s a senior and he is doing what we would hope seniors do at this point in their senior season. I’m really pleased with the things he did tonight. He deserves it.”
However, Gartland went in the opposite direction having a rather quiet second half. He scored just seven points adding his total to 22 without a single three pointer in after the break. “They were sticking a little tighter to me,” Gartland expressed. “Other people were making plays and we were still scoring.” For what he lacked on the offensive end, he made up for on the defensive end with four steals and a couple big time stops down the stretch.
Plattsburgh got into some foul trouble five minutes into the second half when Erik Salo was charged with his fourth personal. Now with Eisenmen injured and Salo playing restricted and cautious minutes, the only other options off the bench were Marlon Todd and freshman Lamont Hough Jr. who never saw the floor.
With six to go, the Lakers turned on the after-burners going on an 8-2 run in a minute and 28 seconds taking a 69-61 lead with 4:05 remaining. The Cardinals never came back from this lead, falling short to the Lakers 75-69. It came down to protecting the ball tonight and Plattsburgh was not proficient in that category. Averaging 15 turnovers a game, Coach Blaine’s Cardinals exceeded that margin with 16 and 11 of those turnovers came in the second half.
Coach Jason Leone was excited about clinching the SUNYAC tournament for the ninth time in his nine years as the head coach of Oswego State but recognized that there was still work to do following Friday night. “We’re in the playoffs,” Leone expressed. “So now we are in a battle to try and get a home game. Every game has a significant meaning from here on out.” With Potsdam traveling to Laker hall at 4:00 pm for the second game of the back to back, the Lakers have a win under their belt and look to continue their winning ways after Improving to 16-5 on the year.
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Oswego Men’s Soccer Falls 2-0 to Rochester
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
