OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse team is set to continue their 2021 season as they host the 2-3 Cortland Red Dragons on Friday, April 9th. This is only the second game for the Lakers as their previous games vs. Morrisville State and SUNY Oneonta were postponed last month.
Oswego is looking to recover from their 5-12 loss to the Brockport Golden Eagles on April 10th, and with SUNYAC games currently being played throughout their division, it’s more pivotal than ever for the Lakers to secure an early season victory. However, history is not on Oswego’s side. Oswego Men’s Lacrosse is 0-36 all-time vs. SUNY Cortland, with their last matchup being a 10-13 away loss in 2019. The Lakers will have to play better offensively than they did against Brockport in order to secure a victory. Five players scored in that game, including Dan Doolan and Weston Gray, who both added assists in the defeat. SUNY Cortland, currently on a two-game losing streak, will be lead by senior midfielder, Brandon Stiles, and sophomore attack, Luke Kilner, who are the leading scorers for the Red Dragons. Oswego goalie, Kevin O’Donnell, will have to be on has A-game in order to stop the high-powered Cortland offense. Faceoff is set for 7 PM at Laker Turf Stadium.
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A Look Ahead: Oswego State men’s hockey prepares for Oswego Hockey Classic
OSWEGO, N.Y — The Oswego State men’s hockey team heads into the Clarion/Best Western Oswego Hockey Classic on a five game win streak with an overall record of 8-3-1. The tournament welcomes three other teams into the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall. SUNY Canton, Skidmore College, and nationally ranked #4 Augsburg University will join the Lakers in the tournament this season.
During the 2019-20 season, the Lakers lost to the eventual tournament winners, St. Mary’s Cardinals, in the first round of the tournament. On Saturday, Oswego State would fall to the University of New England Nor’easters 4-3 in the the consolation match up during that year’s tournament.
In this year’s tournament, the Lakers are set to take on the #4 Augsburg University Auggies in the first round Saturday night with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. on the SUNY Oswego campus. This is the fifth nationally ranked match up for the Oswego State Lakers this season. So far, the Lakers have not beaten a nationally ranked opponent.
The Auggies and Lakers have only met once prior to Saturday night’s game. On January 3rd, 2009, these two teams met for the first time in Oswego during the Oswego Hockey Classic. The Lakers were able to take the 5-2 victory and send the Auggies back to Minnesota after defeating them in the tournament championship game. Oswego State finished 18-8-1 that season and lost to Plattsburgh State in the SUNYAC Championship finals.
Augsburg University travels to New York after dropping two games during the week in Michigan. One of those games was an exhibition contest against the United State U-18 Development team that finished with a score line of 6-1 in favor of the under eighteen team. The second game was against the number one team in the nation, the Adrian College Bulldogs. The Bulldogs defeated the Auggies 5-2 last night to continue to assert their dominance over NCAA Division III men’s hockey. The Auggies still have a 9-2 record heading into this weekend, one of the better records in Division III hockey.
The Saturday afternoon match up has the SUNY Canton Kangaroos facing off against the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds. The 4:00 p.m. puck drop features the SUNY Canton squad that has an overall record of 3-3-1. The Kangaroos has played less games then most due to postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other side of the ice, the Thoroughbreds come into the contest with the 6-4-1 record and a 3-3-1 conference record. On Sunday, puck drop is set for 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. for the two games. WTOP 10 will have the broadcasts for all four games this weekend in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena.
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
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Oswego women’s lacrosse loses in nail biter
ONEONTA, N.Y. — It was a hard fought battle between the Lakers and Oneonta that ultimately resulted in a loss for the Lakers. This SUNYAC matchup featured two teams who were very hungry to get a victory, Oneonta had a significantly better start early on as they went up 5-2 in the first quarter. The Lakers were not out of it this early as they managed to stay in it for the entirety of the contest. The second half was more of the same as Oneonta outscored the Lakers 5-3 to go up by five points. The third quarter is when the tide started change and the Lakers began to make a comeback. The lead scorers for the Lakers were sophomore Sela Wiley with an incredible seven goals and and sophomore Shae McConnell with five. Both of these women have been on an absolute tear this season and have been the lead scorers in almost every game. It was crunch time in the fourth as the lakers were still down by two points. Despite a great effort the Lakers would ultimately lose by four goals as Oneonta sealed the victory. The Lakers look to get back on track as they take on the Geneseo Knights April 6th at Laker Turf Stadium. Game Starts at 4:00pm on WTOP10!
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
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Oswego State women’s basketball concludes 2021-22 season celebrating two seniors
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s basketball team concluded the 2021-22 season last weekend, honoring seniors Danielle Caivana and Raiven Encarnacion in the process. The Lakers fell to SUNY Brockport 56-55 on Friday and Fredonia 68-60 on Saturday, bringing their season record to 5-19. In their second matchup of the season, the Lakers and Golden Eagles played a hard fought game from start to finish. After the opening tip, Brockport took an early 8-6 lead before the Lakers went on a 14-2 run. With 2:42 left in the first quarter, Oswego led 20-10. Danielle Caivana scored nine points in the quarter, shooting 3-3 from behind the arc. Heading into the second frame, Brockport stormed back to knot the game up at 20. However, eight points from Logan Castiglione helped the Lakers regain the lead and go into the half up 37-25. After a back-and-forth third quarter, Brockport brought the deficit to seven entering the final ten minutes. The Golden Eagles continued to fight down the stretch and pulled the game within two points with just over a minute remaining in regulation. Castiglione, who was great defensively in this game, came up with a clutch steal to maintain the Oswego lead with 30 seconds remaining. After some scrappy play, an Oswego foul put Brockport on the free throw line down just one point. The Golden Eagles nailed both free throws to take their first lead since the opening quarter. The Lakers got a last-second shot off in time, but it would fall short, giving Brockport the victory. Shania Iglesias finished the contest with 16 points while Caivana (15) and Castiglione (10) both scored double-digit points.
Before the tip-off of Saturday’s senior night game, Oswego celebrated Caivana and Encarnacion for their accomplishments with the team. Both teams exchanged a flurry of baskets throughout the first quarter, with Fredonia up 18-16 heading into the second. The Lakers quickly took their first lead of the game off a Diamond Pickett three-point shot. The Blue Devils and Lakers went shot-for-shot throughout the frame, with Fredonia escaping the the quarter up 32-27. To begin the second half, Fredonia went on a small scoring run. Though, Encarnacion scored two buckets and a free throw to bring the deficit to five. Despite Oswego’s persistence, Fredonia went into the final quarter with a nine point lead. The Lakers would bring the game within six points with 30 seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late for the home team. Diamond Pickett finished with her fifth double-double of the season, putting up 19 points, 16 boards, three assists, and three steals. Encarnacion and Caivana combined for 25 points in their final game as Lakers. With this win, the Blue Devils clinched the sixth and final playoff berth in the SUNYAC Championship.
Although it wasn’t the outcome the team was hoping for, the Lakers have a bright future lead by their young star athletes. Oswego saw major contributions from the likes of Catie Lilly, Chastin Giles, and Diamond Pickett throughout the course of the season and will look to build upon their performances from this season. The team will reload in the offseason and look towards the 2022-23 season, where they hope to make it back to the SUNYAC playoffs once again.
Image Provided By Will Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
