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Dan Doolan and the Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse Team
Dan Doolan is a graduate student on the men’s lacrosse team. His senior season was canceled due to COVID-19 and he is the only one of the 15 seniors from the 2020 team to return this year. Spring student-athletes last year were granted an extra year of eligibility and Doolan, who was already planning on coming back for grad school will get to play another season of men’s lacrosse.
Dan Doolan has come a long way since his freshman year at Oswego, as a freshman, he had five points. In his junior year, he would change that to 31 points which included 22 goals. Doolan will be stepping into a leadership role this year as a great example of both grinding to develop as a player, as well as being the eldest member of the team. Head Coach Drew Bezek has high praise for this special member of his first recruiting class.
“It’s exciting to have somebody on the field that younger guys can look at his development, and understand that sometimes there’s a process to get where you want to be.” Bezek said.
Doolan is currently taking classes to get his MBA and plans to graduate in June. For the rest of the semester, he will get to experience the grind of balancing sport and school, which was taken away from so many student-athletes in the past year. The Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse team kick off their 2021 season Friday, April 2nd, on the road in Brockport.
Schedule Changes for Oswego State Baseball and Softball
Athletic teams at SUNY Oswego continue to feel the effects of COVID-19 in the form of game postponements and cancellations. The start of the season for the Oswego State baseball team is pushed back, and the softball team has a third of their remaining games canceled or postponed.
Oswego baseball was scheduled to open their season on the road at Saint John Fisher in a doubleheader on Saturday March 27 which was postponed. The season opener then became Wednesday March 31 against Ithaca at home, and that game was canceled. The Lakers baseball team is now scheduled to start their season Saturday April 3rd in a 1:00 and 3:00 doubleheader at Brockport.
Oswego softball opened their season with a doubleheader at RIT on Monday March 22, the Lakers lost the first game 9-8, and won the second game 4-3. The 1-1 Lakers softball team was scheduled to play at Saint John Fisher in a doubleheader on Monday March 29, those two games are postponed. Oswego softball was slated for a doubleheader on back to back days, Wednesday April 7 versus Houghton, and Thursday April 8 at Potsdam, all four of those games have been canceled. Oswego softball is scheduled to play their next game in a doubleheader April 10 at home against Brockport.
Oswego baseball will get a late start to their season, and softball will have a long layoff before returning to game action. Men’s lacrosse plays Friday April 2 at 4:00 at Brockport and Women’s lacrosse returns back to action Saturday April 3 at 1:00 versus Fredonia at home. Catch all the action on WTOP 10 as the spring sports season continues on.
Oswego Buccaneers Boys Hockey Finishes 2021 Season
OSWEGO, N.Y. — A few months ago, a high school hockey season for the Oswego Buccaneers seemed very unlikely. However with a quick announcement allowing high schools to begin practices, the condensed season was going to occur and at a very rapid pace.
Oswego started off their season caught off guard by facing opponents they typically do not square off against but did this year due to the new COVID-19 enforced divisions based on location and not school size. Through the month of February, the Bucs would get three wins but also dealt six losses with two of them against a well known Division II favorite in Section III, the Skaneateles Lakers who went 14-0-2 this season.
It was a quick turn around in March as Oswego was able to win their first four games of the month convincingly outscoring their opponents 22 to 4 in those four matchups, as well as earning five wins and receiving only two losses in March. When head coach Kevin Ahern was asked what were some possible factors in the turnaround he did not hesitate.
“We have settled into some of the systems that we’re trying to implement… our puck movement has gotten much better, our d-zone has tightened up, and our goaltending is playing well,” Kevin Ahern said.
It was bittersweet for 6 seniors at the end of the season as they were fortunate enough to have a season but bid farewell to their high school hockey careers and home games at what they know as “The Fort”. With a large veteran core coming back, including eleven seniors in 2022; look for the Buccaneers to be hungry for a potential deep playoff run in Section III this upcoming season with their young determination and depth.
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Oswego State Softball splits games with RIT Tigers
Oswego State Softball split their Monday afternoon doubleheader at RIT with a 9-8 loss in game one and a 4-3 game two win. The Lakers showed lots of promise for their 2021 season in these first two games of the campaign.
In game one, Oswego got out to an early 5-1 lead through two innings. The majority of the offense in the first two innings came from Zoe Menning and Taylor DuBois who had two RBIs apiece, and Brianna LoMonaco who scored two runs. RIT chipped away with three runs of their own in the fifth as it was 6-5 with the Lakers in the lead after five. Oswego would get insurance runs in the top of the 6th and 7th to make the score 8-5, but the Tigers erased that lead during a four run comeback in the bottom of the 7th to win the contest by a score of 9-8.
Game two started off the same as game one, with the Lakers offense getting out to an early lead. This time it would be a 3-0 Laker lead after two innings, Zoe Menning kept the hot bat going into game two with a 2 RBI double in the first inning. Each team got another run apiece to make it 4-1 after five innings. RIT showed signs of another comeback with a two run bottom of the 6th, but Madison Hoeflich weathered the storm and got back to her first five inning form. Hoeflich got out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the seventh as the Lakers prevailed and defeated RIT 4-3. Hoeflich was excellent in her first collegiate start, throwing all seven innings, giving up seven hits and leading the Lakers to their first win of the season. Oswego softball returns Sunday March 28th in a doubleheader at St. John Fisher beginning at 1:00.
Oswego State Softball gets set for RIT
The Oswego State Softball team takes the field Monday, March 22nd, for the first time since May 4th, 2019. The Lakers go on the road to take on RIT in a Monday afternoon doubleheader slated to take place at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The Lakers nearly 700 day off season is shown in roster changes. Four of the 14 girls who appeared in the most recent game, against Cortland in the SUNYAC playoffs are on the roster this year. The 2021 Oswego softball roster features ten newcomers along with seven upperclassmen who return from the 2019 team. The upperclassmen on the team will have a big leadership role this year because the two classes have not seen game action in their college careers.
The Tigers of RIT also have not yet played a game this season, but they were able to play ten in 2020 when they went 7-3 overall. The Tigers feature a very experienced team with nine upperclassmen plus two graduate students. Oswego starts their season with four games in Rochester, with two games against RIT at 3:00 and 5:00 Monday, March 22, as well as 1:00 and 3:00 Sunday March 28 at St. John Fisher. All of these games are non-conference as SUNYAC play does not start until April 1st.
Oswego Women’s Lacrosse Defeats Morrisville to Kickoff 2021 Season
MORRISVILLE, NY — The Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse Team won their first game of the 2021 season, defeating SUNY Morrisville 20-14. This was the first game for the Lakers in over a year due to the pandemic and they started their season off strong with a hard fought road victory. Sophomore midfielder Sela Wiley set the tone early, scoring Oswego’s first goal less than three minutes into the game. After going down 6-3 midway through the 1st period, junior attack Logan Castiglione scored back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to one. Following a quick Mustang goal, the Lakers would score six consecutive points heading into the second period, before going on multiple scoring runs to put the game out of reach.
Sela Wiley lead the Lakers in points, scoring 7 goals on 10 shots, while Logan Castiglione scored 5 goals on 8 shots. Midfielders Shae McConnell (4), Isabella Lembo (3), and attack Kamryn Sherman (1) each added goals of their own. Junior Goalkeeper Delaney Kendrick also had two saves in the win. Following today’s victory, the Oswego Women’s Lacrosse Team remains undefeated versus Morrisville, bringing their all time record to 11-0. The Lakers are now 1-0 on the season as they turn their attention to their first game in conference play on March 27th at SUNY Brockport.
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
Oswego Men’s Lacrosse: Season Debut Delayed
OSWEGO, NY — The Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse Team hasn’t played a game since March 10th of last year. Unfortunately, the Lakers will have to wait a bit longer to play their first game of the 2021 season. Oswego was originally scheduled to begin their season at home vs. SUNY Morrisville on March 17th, but due to a positive coronavirus case on the opposing team, the game was cancelled. Oswego was then scheduled to play SUNY Oneonta on March 20th, however the game was postponed earlier on Friday due to a positive case on the Lakers team.
This is now the second time in one week the Lakers will have their game either postponed or cancelled. The next scheduled game for Oswego is March 26th vs Geneseo. This was unfortunate for the Lakers as the game vs. Geneseo is the first of six scheduled SUNYAC games, meaning Oswego will have played zero games before conference play begins. If this happens, Oswego will be the only team in their division to not play a game before conference play starts. The Oswego Men’s Lacrosse Team last played Geneseo on April 20th, 2019, in a 13-14 home loss.
Oswego’s Men’s Lacrosse Team Set to Begin 2021 Season
OSWEGO, NY — The Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse Team is set to take on SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, March 20th to kick off their 2021 season. This will be the Oswego Men’s Lacrosse team’s first action in over a year due to the pandemic. However, unlike prior seasons, conference play is set to begin earlier than ever before, starting March 26th versus Geneseo. Senior goaltender Kevin O’Donnell understands just how important these early games are to set the tone for the rest of the season.
“With SUNYACs coming up so soon and those being the most important games for our team, the level of expectancy exceeds any other season in my opinion,” O’Donnell said. “Especially with the teams were playing, Morrisville, Oneonta, and then the rest of the SUNY division, it’s important that were on our A-game.”
O’Donnell is now a team captain and is looking to surpass 400 career saves in the coming games.
Being that this is the Lakers first game since March of 2020, it’s important that they eliminate any mistakes or confusion they might have. Head Coach Drew Bezek, who is going into his 7th season on the coaching staff, believes his team needs to master their game plan early on in order to be successful.
“With early season games, it’s always about limiting mistakes and doing what we need to do. A lot of times with the beginning part of the season, you’re not so worried about your competition and what they run. It’s us being super-efficient and consistent at what we’re trying to do.”
Although many things are different this season for the players, coaches, and staff, film sessions and scouting remain an important aspect of Oswego’s success. However, since teams only played a few games in 2020, the Lakers will have to anticipate Oneonta’s game plan based off what they saw from early last year.
Coach Bezek said, “We’ll treat this year similar to the past where for the first game of the year, your kind of going off tendencies from the previous year. We’re not going to know some of their new players, but from the film, we could try to piece together how they run their system.”
The Lakers have won their last four games vs. Oneonta dating back to 2016 and look to extend their win streak to five on Saturday.
Package Aired Thursday 3/18/21 on Nightly News
Oswego Girls Buccaneers Hockey Finishes 2021 Season
OSWEGO, NY — The Oswego Girls Buccaneers Hockey team finished their shortened 2021 season Saturday Morning. The Buccaneers faced off against reigning State Champions Clinton in an early puck drop. Clinton would win 7-1 in the contest as Oswego struggled to get on the scoreboard. Bucs forward Mischa Palmitesso would get the lone goal as she was able to pull it to her backhand to bring it around Clinton goaltender Casey Clausen. At the other end, goaltenders Nyah Dawson and Chelsea Storms shared time in between the pipes that morning for the Buccaneers and did a solid job trying to keep the team in the game. However, Clinton’s offense was just too powerful as the Warriors would finish their season undefeated and at the top of the Section III Standings.
For Oswego, the Buccaneers struggled throughout the season as the team’s roster featured a lot of underclassmen trying to make the jump to the varsity level. However, the team did make strives throughout the contests in their limited schedule. Later on, in the season, the group was able to battle in games, one specifically being in the overtime lost against Skaneateles in the Crisafulli Ice Rink. The Bucs look to get back to their regular schedule in the 2021-22 season as the team was only able to play six games this season due to limitations from the COVID-19 Pandemic. A large part of the roster will be returning to the team along with both goaltenders currently on the Oswego team. This concludes WTOP 10’s coverage of the Oswego Girls Buccaneers Hockey team as the group has finished their 2021 season.