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.
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Men’s basketball: SUNYAC championship recap and NCAA tournament preview
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball started their playoffs with a SUNYAC championship victory. They were the top seeded team in the tournament because they had the best regular season record in the conference. This saw them host both semi-final matchups and the finals. The first round of the tournament was on Tuesday, the winner’s of those two games would travel to Oswego to take on the Lakers, and the other team with a first round bye, Oneonta.
Excitement was building in the team after it was announced Tuesday night that Oswego would get their rematch with New Paltz, the team that had beat them just a few weeks prior to give them their only SUNYAC loss of the season. It was Jeremiah Sparks’ early seven points that helped the Lakers take an 8-2 lead. After the first ten minutes of play the Lakers still held the lead, 25-17, with Jamal Achille scoring six of his own to help out. The final ten minutes of the half saw the Lakers find their stride, a 23-5 run saw seniors Julien Crittendon, Brendon Mulson, and Christian Simmons combine for eighteen points, and the both teams headed to the locker rooms with the Lakers leading 48-22. The Lakers shot an incredible 66.7% in the first half. Oswego went on another run coming out of the half, and with just under fourteen to play, Oswego led 62-30. Eleven points from Kaleb Cook and seven from Sean Edwards in the final ten minutes helped the Lakers close the game out, and get revenge on the Hawks with a 94-60 victory. Five Lakers reached double digit scoring, Julien Crittendon (15), Jeremiah Sparks (13), Devin Green (12), Jamal Achille (11), and Kaleb Cook (11). Jeremiah Sparks had four steals in the game and Devin Green had three, with Oswego having a total of 15 in the game. With the win they moved on to take on the Oneonta Red Dragons who beat Brockport, 64-54, in the other Semi-final matchup.
Brendon Mulson was the Lakers fast starter in the Championship bout, scoring seven of Oswego’s first nine en route to a 9-0 lead. Half way through the first frame, Oswego was doubling Oneonta’s score 18-9. By the end of the first half Jeremiah Sparks and Julien Crittendon had combined for eighteen points, and the Lakers led 38-19. Oswego reached fifty points and a thirty point advantage on the same play, a Julien Crittendon layup with fourteen minutes to go. With eight minutes to go Oswego’s lead grew to thirty-five. Oneonta showed fight down the stretch making five threes before the end of the game, but the Lakers victory was all but assured and the game ended 81-60. Jeremiah Sparks (18) was Oswego’s scoring leader, with Devin Green (15), Jamal Achille (11) and Julien Crittendon (10) all reaching double digits. Achille and Green had nine and eight rebounds respectively. This championship victory was the Oswego’s fifth in ten seasons. After the game Jeremiah Sparks, Jamal Achille, Julien Crittendon, and Devin Green were all named to the all tournament team, with Sparks being named tournament MVP.
https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-men/d3/2022
After the win, the Lakers were guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Division 3 Tournament. The selection show was Monday afternoon, with the Laker’s waiting to hear their opponent and where they would be playing. It was determined by the selection committee that Oswego would be one of three teams traveling to hosts Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA just outside of Philadelphia. Oswego’s first round matchup will be against Hood College from Frederick, MD, with the winner of that matchup playing the winner of Swarthmore and Keene State from Keene, NH.
Hood College plays in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth. They came in second in their conference, beating the conference winner, Eastern University, 75-71 in the championship game. The Hood Blazers were 20-6 this season, going 14-2 in conference. Hood is led by senior brothers Mason and Evan Wang. Mason Wang led Hood with 22.4 points per game, while also contributing 5.0 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game, and 2.3 steals per game. Evan Wang is the second leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, also with 5.0 rebounds per game, and leading the team in assists at 3.8 per game. Christopher Smalls is their third highest scorer with 9.8 points per game. Hood averages 81.9 points per game, with teams averaging 74.1 against them. They shoot 44.5% from the field and 38.1% from three. The two sides have never played each other before.
The game against Hood College is Friday, March 4th. Tip off is set for 3:05 P.M. The winner’s of the two games will play Saturday at 5:35 in Swarthmore.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
BRACKET PROVIDED BY NCAA.COM
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Sullivan and Lakers take care of business against No. 5 Hobart
OSWEGO — The No. 6 Oswego State men’s ice hockey team defeated No. 5 Hobart by a score of 4-2. Jody Sullivan started the scoring as he crept in past the blue line and punished a wrister past the Statesmen goalie’s right shoulder. Aaron Huffnagle, Anthony Pasero, and Mitch Emerson also tallied a goal apiece in the match. David Richer was strong in the net recording twelve saves while allowing two in the net. The Lakers will travel to Fredonia on Friday for a meeting with the Blue Devils. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
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Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse Prepares for Brockport Following Win Versus Buffalo State
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego Women’s Lacrosse team won their fourth game of the season on Monday, defeating the Buffalo State Bengals 14-4. This was the Lakers second win of the season versus the Bengals as the won their last matchup 14-6 on April 10th. The Lakers sweep the Bengals to get two wins this season in the SUNYAC West Division.
Oswego snapped a 3-game losing streak with Monday’s victory, something they needed to accomplish in order to keep pace in the West division. It was a back-and-forth game midway through the 1st half. The Lakers lead 3-0 in the opening 5 minutes following goals from Shae McConnell, Erin Lehmann, and leading scorer, Sela WIley. The Bengals then retaliated with 3 goals of their own, tying the game with 12:36 left in the 1st half. However, Buffalo State would never hold a lead in the entire game as they were outscored by Oswego 11-1 at the end of regulation. Wiley had yet another dominant performance on Monday. The sophomore scored 5 goals, bringing her season total to 27, and added an assist on top of that. McConnell also had a hat-trick while Isabella Lembo fell just short, totaling 2 goals and 1 assist. Four other Lakers scored a single goal, including Logan Castiglione, Julia Quirk, Erin Lehmann, and Katie Fierro. Fierro netted her first collegiate goal in the victory.
Oswego improved to 3-2 in SUNYAC play and will look towards their highly anticipated matchup vs SUNY Brockport. The Lakers will look to avenge their blowout loss to the Golden Eagles just a few days ago on April 17th. Oswego lost 22-9 but will have to have a short term memory heading into Wednesday’s matchup. Brockport is on a 7-game winning streak, backed by the outstanding play of leading scorer, Heather Conklin. Conklin has scored a whopping 39 goals this season and had 6 against Oswego in their previous game. The Golden Eagles also have two other players with more than 20 goals, including Cassidy Burnash (24), and Allison Jennings (21). The Lakers will have to play better defensively in order to keep up with Brockport’s high-powered offense. Oswego currently sits in 3rd place in the West division and needs a victory to keep pace with SUNY Geneseo (4-1). Brockport (6-1) has already clinched a playoff berth and will look to continue their great 2021 season on Wednesday. Face off is set for 4:00 PM at Brockport for this SUNYAC West matchup.
