OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball came away with another SUNYAC victory Saturday night against the Cortland Red Dragons. The Lakers would win 68-66, thanks to Jeremiah Sparks would lead the offense with 31 points. He had a career-high 11 made field goals during the contest. Oswego secured the lead in the first half and kept the Red Dragons out of the lead as Cortland missed a 3 pointer in the dying seconds to drop the game and fall to 3-3 in conference play. The win continues to keep the Lakers in the hunt for the top spot in the SUNYAC standings.
The Lakers are back in action Tuesday night following the Women’s Basketball game. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego welcomes in Oneonta, who is currently right behind the Lakers in the standings but has the same conference record of 5-1. This will be an important game for the Lakers as they fight for the top spot in the SUNYAC.
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Oswego State women’s lacrosse suffers big loss against SUNY Geneseo
OSWEGO N.Y. — It was a rough Wednesday evening for the Lakers as they couldn’t get anything to click on Laker Turf Stadium. The Lakers took on a very good Geneseo team and at the end of the day, simply got outplayed. With the score after the first quarter being seven to two, the chances for a Laker comeback already looked slim. Oswego’s star players Sela Wiley and Shae McConnell were not able to get anything going in this contest, with McConnell only coming out with one goal and Wiley being scoreless on the day. Sophomore Isabella Lembo was able to shine in this contest with two goals out of the six that were scored. This made her the lead scorer on the night. The Lakers look to recover from this tough loss when they host SUNY New Paltz at 12 p.m. this Saturday. Catch it live on WTOP10!Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
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Team Spotlight: Oswego State Field Hockey
OSWEGO, NY — As the unusual fall semester continues into the month of October, the Oswego State Field Hockey team would be in the heat of a competitive battle in the SUNYAC conference right about now. The 4-12-0 Lakers finished the 2019 season sixth in the conference standings, missing the playoff bracket. The group lost one senior at the end of the 2019 campaign, midfielder Riley Mallett. Head Coach Heather Moore touched on the impact the Suffern native made to the team.
“[Riley was] a leader by example, always the hardest worker on the field.” Moore said.
With much of the team returning for their 2021 season, Moore feels that the team will be able to pick up the leadership around the field. Moore expects the defensive core, backed by sophomore netminder Erica Scheblein to develop heading into this unusual season.
“Sometimes we ended up being a little too individualistic and not playing as much as a unit.” Moore continued, “with a higher level of communication and some confidence, they will become a stronger unit.”
The Lakers had a goal against average of 3.31 in conference play last season, which ranked them 6th among their competitors. On the other end of the turf, the team average 1.7 goals per game, a stat led by freshman Annie O’Neill. With the attacking front returning as well, Moore focused on bringing the team back to the fundamentals after the end of last season.
“Focusing on overall player development and improvement. Rebuilding our skills and our game sense, like our Field Hockey IQ.” Moore added, “retooling some things and getting our returners on the same page and having them work towards the same goals.”
The team was heading in that direction before the suspension of Athletics due to the concern of COVID-19 on the SUNY Oswego campus. Before this occurrence, the team was able to participate in three team practices in two individual pods. Although the group was happy to be back on the field together, Moore brought up the difficulty with the system.
“The hardest part was going back and forth from each pod and being able to give the right feedback at the right time,” Moore stated.
With no team activities now till the beginning of their season, the group will have to wait to take make their mark in the 2021 season. The Lakers will welcome five first year students onto their roster when the time comes. The group contains five individuals that play a range of positions.
“I have only seen them practice three times.” Moore further states, “but from what I can tell, they are going to be little sparks all across the field.”
These additions to the group will hopefully set the Lakers over the top once the calendar flips to 2021. The setback is something Moore is seeing the positives in, as the coach notices the break in the common rush of a season.
“It’s also nice to have a break and reflect about what worked, what did not work, and what do I see moving forward.” Moore said, “how I see them impacting in the future.”
As Moore and the rest of the coaching staff led their team into the rest of this semester, the coach’s message was simple and clear.
“It’s been a good lesson to all of us to remain flexible and adoptable. Using the information as it comes and managing your reactions.” Moore finished with, “I know things are crazy and keep changing, and it’s okay.”
Photo Provided by Oswego State Athletics
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Field Hockey Picks Up First Win of Season
The Oswego State Lakers faced off against the Elmira Soaring Eagles, with both squads coming into this game looking for their first win of the new season. While Oswego is looking for a bounce-back win after being shut out by the Wilkes Colonels in their season opener, Elmira came into the game holding a 15-game losing streak that began back in the 2024 season. Needless to say, both teams came into this game hungry for a win.
The game started out gritty, with both sides boasting a total of 7 fouls combined within the first four minutes of playing time. However, back-to-back penalty corners for Oswego was able to get the action going early with Midfielder Carly King netting her first goal of her college career as well as the first goal of the new season for the Lakers with the goal being assisted by Madi Stuckart and Alexa Snyder. After striking hot early, scoring with 10:05 left in the first quarter, Oswego took its foot off the gas, allowing Elmira to outshoot them 5-3, a stellar goalie performance from 2024 Rookie of the Year Sam Krautheim; however kept the score at 1-0 heading into the second.
Elmira kept the momentum moving out of the break however, living in Oswego’s zone for several minutes until they finally broke the seal with Forward Caitlin Ehlenfield able to get one past Krautheim off of the rebound to tie it up at 1-1 with the goal being assisted by Nicole Luther. This complete swing of momentum seemed to light a fire under the Lakers as they proceeded to play with a vengeance for the rest of the quarter. Oswego proceeded to rack up 6 fouls, with even defenseman Heather Dent being ejected with three minutes left on the clock. Oswego also held a monopoly over shots and offense, staying almost exclusively on the Soaring Eagles’ side of the field the rest of the half.
Oswego kept up the barrage heading out of the 2nd half, taking back-to-back penalty corners and eventually scoring 3:30 into the half with Forward Ellie Kazel blasting it home for Oswego to take a 2-1 lead. After this lead change, Oswego and Elmira proceeded to exchange blows for the rest period, exchanging shots on net back and forth.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the defense had locked down on allowing shots for both sides. This, accompanied with players showing exhaustion after going all out for 45 minutes, resulted in a rather lackluster offensive fourth quarter with Elmira boasting only 3 shots while Oswego had 0.
Oswego was able to secure the victory in a 2-1 win over Elmira, giving them their first win on the season, while Elmira’s losing streak fell to 16 games. Oswego will be looking to go above .500 on their Senior Day, September 6th, against the Nazareth Golden Flyers. Elmira will look to finally break the curse on September 6th against the Gwynedd Mercy University Griffins.
Written By: Eric Palmeri
