OSWEGO, NY — On July 16th, The New York State Public High School Athletic Association announced changes to how high school athletics will work in the 2020-21 season. This statement comes as schools across New York State prepare for public schooling to reopen for the new school year. After the cancellation of the Spring 2020 season last year, there has been many questions revolving around high school athletics heading into this coming season.
The decision made by the Officers of the NYSPHSAA included a few changes along with guidelines on how schools/teams should prepare moving forward. The first being the start of the Fall sports season being moved to September 21st, which was supposed to begin on August 24th. The NYSPHSAA President, Paul Harrica, stated that this date would be unrealistic due to the current threats of COVID-19. Another major change is the cancellation of all Fall Regional and State Championship events. This is change was obviously made to decrease traveling between sports teams as teams from different sections around the state would travel to one central location to play the final games of the season. Minor adjustments and recommendations were also stated. For instance, the group has waived the seven-day practice rule, encouraged geographic scheduling for games, and schools have the option to offer off-season conditioning workouts.
These changes of course affect the Oswego Buccaneers teams, as many student-athletes were looking forward to the season beginning in the month of August. WTOP 10 will continue to bring coverage on this matter, as students will hopefully be returning to school by the beginning of September.
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Oswego State Women’s Hockey 2020-2021 Roster Updates
Oswego State Women’s Hockey 2020-2021 Roster Update #1 (4/18/20)
OSWEGO, NY — The Women’s Hockey team heads into the off season only losing a few players from their 2019-2020 roster. The team lost four players due to graduation along with three players during the course of the regular season for various reasons. In total, the Lakers lost four forwards, two defenseman, and two goaltenders that will need to be replaced this off season. Oswego moves forward searching for multiple goaltenders as both starter Rachael Farmer and back up Tia Trovato left the team. So of course, the starting position is open heading into next season. So far, it has been a quiet off season as the group has only secured five recruits.
As for the goaltending problem, the search for players between the pipes has ended as the Lakers have secured three goalies heading into next season. JoAnna Hiebert from Highland Charter Township, Michigan is one of the three goaltenders coming to Oswego to play between the pipes. Hiebert has played the past two seasons for Meijer AAA Hockey in Michigan in which the goaltender has been the starter for the team. The 5’ 7” goaltender played 34 games this season and recorded a 2.05 goals against average.
The second goaltender heading to Oswego State next season is Bryn White. The Colorado native played for the Boston Shamrocks that plays in the Junior Women’s Hockey League. The goaltender that catches left played 16 games this season for the Shamrocks in which White recorded a .848 save percentage with a 6.43 goals against average.
The third and final goaltender heading to play for the Lakers in Emilie Venne. Venne played for the Northwood Girls Hockey team located in Lake Placid, New York. The eighteen year old from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada catches left and will join JoAnna Hiebert and Bryn White inbetween the pipes next season for Oswego.
With only the notable loss of Eryn Stewart due to graduation, most of the Lakers offense will be back next season. Megan Teachout, Amber Thomas, and Morgan Shines will most likely return for the Lakers, which means the group will most likely look for players that can step into a secondary scoring spot and grow for years to come.Oswego has also picked up two forwards to add to the recruitment class. Rachel Corbett from Rochester, NY played for the U19 Buffalo Regals this past season. Corbett has been with the program for two years as the team played in the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League this past season. Corbett along with 11 other players committed to an NCAA team for next season from this team.
The second forward to commit to Oswego is Sophia Kyrkostas from Selden, New York. Kyrkostas played for the Selects Academy located in Rochester, New York this past season. The 5’ 2” forward played with the Lady Islanders before heading to Rochester to play with the Selects.
Heading further into the off season, the Oswego State Lakers still need to find a few more players to complete their 2020-21 roster. The team would most likely look for two to three more defenseman to complete an 8-man unit as well as find two to three more forwards for four lines and two extra players. WTOP 10 will continue to deliver updates on both the Men’s and Women’s hockey teams heading into next season. Their 2020-21 schedules should be released around the middle of July.
Oswego State Women’s Hockey 2020-21 Roster Update #2 (5/29/20)
OSWEGO, NY — As the Women’s Hockey team continues into their off-season, the coaching staff has continued to grow their roster for the 2020-21 season. The Lakers look to build off their successful season with the addition of the Class of 2024, which currently includes players from all over North America. After the team lost seven players due to graduation and other situations, the group has secured five players so far, which includes three goaltenders to replace senior Rachael Farmer. Oswego also has added two players to their offensive core to play along side players like Megan Teachout, Amber Thomas, and Emily Gustafson. The projected roster for the 2020-21 season is noted in the graphic below.
Recently, Oswego State was able to recruit another forward to add to their depth up front. Ben Grieco (@BenGriecoSports) reported the commitment of Madison Shepard who will be wearing the green and gold next season, as the Whitby, Ontario, Canada native will join the Lakers for their fourth season in the Northeast Women’s Hockey League. The 5’ 7” forward played for the Durham West Junior Lightning in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League, the same league that the London Junior Devilettes play in. This team faced the Lakers in an exhibition game this past season, where Oswego lost 0-4 on home ice. The Lakers have spent the past 6 seasons beginning with a PWHL opponent coming to play inside the Marano Campus Center. The Lightning finished in 15th this past season and lost to the Stoney Creek Sabres in the opening round of the PWHL Playoffs, losing the series 3-1. Shepard would tally one goal in the four playoff games. Over the course of the regular season, the left handed shot would tally 8 points (3 goals & 5 assists) in 32 games played. Shepard spent the previous two seasons with the Whitby Wolves, spending most of the 2017-18 season with the group’s Midget AA team. During her time in the league, Shepard has recorded a career total of 17 points (7 goals & 10 assists) in 74 contests.
With three forwards getting added to the current list, Oswego State now has 13 forwards heading into the 2020-21 season. Compared to the beginning of the 2019-20 campaign, the team would still need to add one more forwards to equal their total of 15 forwards of their prior season. The Lakers still have four defenseman as the group has not yet recruited any defensive players. WTOP 10 will continue to deliver updates on both the Men’s and Women’s hockey teams heading into next season. Their 2020-21 schedules should be released around the middle of July.
Oswego State Women’s Hockey 2020-2021 Roster Update #3 (6/24/20)
OSWEGO, NY — The Women’s Hockey team continues to recruit talent as the team closes in on their 2020-21 season. After the announcement that new Interim Head Coach Mark Digby would be taking over the group, effectively immediately, the team has been continuing to add to their recruitment class. Prior to these newer commitments, Oswego was able to secure 6 players to throw on the green and gold for the first time next year. With all of these players being a part of the Class of 2024, the team is sure to have a large underclassman presence as the sophomore class has five notable players that were able to make impacts during their freshman campaign. With three goaltenders in this group, the Lakers have already taken care of the hole left in between the pipes after Rachel Farmer graduated, and Tia Trovato transferred to Potsdam. These three will be fighting for the starting job come October. The other three players will be joining the offense as the team is trying to add to their current group of 11 forwards that will most likely be returning next season.
The depth chart above shows the current projected 2020-21 roster. The purple coloring represents the two transfers, while the green represents the Class of 2024 recruits. Black is players that are expected to be back next season. The most recent announcements surfaced on social media last week with a total of three players committing to Oswego State. The first player, joining the Class of 2024, was Kamryn Barnes, from Alexandria Bay, New York. The 5′ 6″ defenseman graduated from Alexandria Bay Central High School this past year, a town located roughly one hour and 30 minutes northeast of Oswego along Lake Ontario. Barnes was the captain of her high school team her senior year, and also played varsity soccer during the fall. The athlete will join the four other defenseman returning in the fall, and is currently slotted in the Top-6 due to the lack of defenseman. This knowledge was found on Instagram by WTOP 10 Sports Talent Thomas Turgeon (@Turgeon_30wtop).
The two other commitments were rather significant for the Lakers compared to the past commitments of incoming freshman. Last week, Taylor Hudon and Lauren Jones announced that they will be transferring from Nazareth College to join the Lakers in the 2020-21 season. Both players spent the past two seasons with the Golden Flyers and will be juniors next season as the two put on green and gold on for the first time. Lauren Jones, a defenseman from Syracuse, New York, played for Skaneateles High School prior to the start of her collegiate career, the same school where current Oswego State player Meg Teachout played in high school. The two were teammates for two seasons while playing in Section III. Jones played in one game this past season for Nazareth, recording zero points. Her freshman year, the player tallied 5 points (1 goal & 4 assists) in 26 games played. Taylor Hudon will also be joining the Lakers squad next season as the forward played 4 games last season for the Golden Flyers, recording one goal. Hudon, from Alexandria Bay, New York, played in 26 games her freshman campaign, tallying 20 points (15 goals & 5 assists) along with 8 penalty minutes. The player has spent time on defense while she played in high school, but I would expect her to continue in the offensive core for the Lakers. Both players played a combined 5 games for Nazareth last season, both being healthy scratches for a majority of the campaign. This information has been confirmed via Instagram.
After these three players join the 2020-21 roster, Oswego State has now recruited a total of 9 players. Moving forward, the coaching staff will look to continue to grow this group by obtaining more offensive and defensive players. The defensive core still has some gaps to fill with only 6 reported players set in the 2020-21 roster. WTOP 10 will continue to provide updates on all Oswego State teams as the groups prepare for the start of their next seasons!
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Oswego baseball: SUNYAC playoffs preview
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State baseball team cliched the one seed in the SUNYAC playoffs over the weekend. All the games in the tournament will be played at the Laker Baseball Stadium. The tournament features three top 25 teams, Oswego (12), Cortland (13), and Brockport (22). The tournament is a double elimination style tournament with a potential seven total games being played. The first two games of the tournament will be played on Thursday, the first game will feature Oswego taking on the Plattsburgh Cardinals at noon. The second game of the day will see Cortland taking on Brockport at 3:00 P.M.
The Lakers are currently on a 20 game win streak against the Cardinals dating back to March, 2015. This season they won all three games, game one 19-6, game two 8-2, and game three 17-5. In the three games, Kyle Lauria went 9-16 (.563), and drove in eight runs in the series. Ryan Enos had four doubles in the series. Tishawn Featherstone had two home runs in the first game. The Laker pitching staff held the dangerous Alex Kornblau to 2-10 (.200) over all three games.
The Lakers are led by four dangerous hitters at the top of their lineup, Paul Tamarro, Ryan Enos, Kyle Lauria, and Lukas Olsson. Tammaro (64) and Enos (60) are one and two in the SUNYAC hits leaders. They also sit atop the batting average leader board hitting .481 and .476 respectively. Enos also sits second in the SUNYAC in doubles with 16, with Tammaro right behind at 14. Enos and Olsson are in a three way tie for fourth in the conference home runs leaders with eight each. Enos and Lauria tied for second in stolen bases at 24 each, with Tammaro in fourth with 23. Plattsburgh is led by a dangerous hitter of their own, Alex Kornblau. He is fourth in the SUNYAC in batting average (.396), fifth in doubles (11), and ninth in RBIs (33).
In the game, expect the Lakers to put Kyle Finnegan or Anthony Van Fossen on the mound. Finnegan has been the Lakers ace, with a 2.36 era in 61 innings pitched, striking out 54 batters. He pitched a majority of the seven inning games of the doubles headers, doing a complete game four of his ten starts. For the Cardinals, you may see Sean Malamud or Peter Gregory. Malamud has the most innings on the Plattsburgh staff, 56, and the lowest ERA, 4.98.
After Thursday, the loser of the Oswego-Plattsburgh game will play the loser of the Cortland-Brockport game in game one Friday. The winners of the two Thursday matchups will face off in game two Friday. The third and final game on Friday will be the winner of Friday’s first game vs the loser of Friday’s second game. Saturday will the championship matchup. It will feature the winner of Friday’s second game taking on the winner of Friday’s third game, with a potential second game being played if the team who hasn’t lost yet, the winner of Friday’s second game, loses.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAM ROGERS, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
RANKINGS COURTESY OF D3BASEBALL.COM
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE COURTESY OF SUNYACSPORTS.COM
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Oswego women’s hockey suffers first two losses on back-to-back skid
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s hockey team lost their first two games of the season this weekend, falling to SUNY Cortland 2-1 on Friday and SUNY Plattsburgh 5-0 on Saturday. For the first time in 2021, the Lakers were held to a goal or less in back-to-back outings as they weren’t able to find a rhythm offensively.
Oswego went into Friday’s game versus Cortland undefeated, looking to continue their stellar start to the season. Sophomore forward Morgan Shines started the game off hot, scoring the teams lone goal at the 11:48 mark of the first period. The scored remained 1-0 until midway through the second period when the Red Dragons scored two unanswered goals. Although the Lakers outshot the Red Dragons 43-23 in the contest, they were unable to find the back of the net again. Bryn White finished the game with 21 total saves while Shines led the team in the faceoff circle going 15-7.
The offensive woes would continue in their next game against the #1 ranked division III women’s hockey team, the Plattsburgh Cardinals. The Lakers came out swinging in the first period, having multiple good looks in the offensive zones. The Cardinals defense became more poised as the game went on and held the Lakers scoreless throughout the contest, racking up 31 saves. Plattsburgh got on the board in the first period and then went on to score four unanswered goals throughout the remainder of the game. Plattsburgh, who held Buffalo State to 0-1 the on power play the night prior, continued their dominant run against Oswego, holding them to 0-4 on the night.
The Oswego State women’s hockey team is now 3-2-1 on the year and sit fifth place in the NEWHL. They’ll have the chance to rebound next weekend in a two-game homestand against SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam. Puck drop Friday night is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. Hockey Night in Oswego kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on WTOP 10!
Photo provided by Shelby Peplowski, WTOP photography department
