OSWEGO — The Lakers took the nationally ranked Oneonta to double OT when Witman Hernandez, leading scorer in SUNYAC, put the Red Dragons on top. In the 2-1 loss, Laker Jack Van Pelt got the lone goal off a free kick from sophomore Caleb Munski. Throughout play, Oswego defense blocked multiple Oneonta shots along with goalie Brian Terra’s five saves. The Lakers look to split the weekend with a game against New Paltz today. The team will honor their graduating class as this will be the regular season game at Laker Stadium.
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Sean Eccles named interim head coach of Oswego Men’s lacrosse team
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Following Coach Drew Bezek’s recent departure from the Oswego men’s lacrosse program, the Department of Athletics announced that Sean Eccles has been elevated to Interim Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach on Tuesday.
With this hiring, Eccles becomes the sixth acting head coach in the program’s history. After a stint as offensive coordinator at Georgian Court University (New Jersey), an NCAA Division II school, Eccles now travels to Oswego, not too far from his hometown of Syracuse.
The newly elevated coach will have the honor of coaching his younger brother, Ryan Eccles, who played his first season with the Lakers in the 2021. In six games, Ryan totaled two goals and one assist as a freshman midfielder. With their connection, we could see an increased offensive role for Ryan in the 2022 season.
Before coaching, Eccles was a decorated athlete with multiple collegiate and professional lacrosse honors. Eccles was a two-year captain at UAlbany, earning two second team all-conference honors in his tenure there. During his time with the Great Danes, Eccles totaled 83 goals and 28 assists while leading the team to the NCAA Division I National Championship Final Four in 2018. Eccles is also a former Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional, being drafted 11th overall by the Denver Outlaws in 2019 MLL draft. Following his time with the team, Eccles served as the offensive coordinator for the Albany Academy Preparatory School team in spring 2020.
The Oswego men’s lacrosse team is coming off their worst season in program history as they were winless (0-7) for the first time. Now with an influx of recruits and the hiring of Coach Eccles, the Lakers will look to bounce back from their previous season and aim for their first SUNYAC Championship appearance since 2019.
Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics Department
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Men’s Basketball secures 15th win of the season against New Paltz
OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball rolled through the New Paltz Hawks Tuesday night as the Lakers won 80-55. Oswego took a commanding lead in the first half as the team scored 54 points compared to the Hawk’s 25. This is thanks to senior Joe Sullivan dropping 20 points due to seven field goals and two three pointers in his twenty two minutes played. Colby Moultrie stepped into the game and secured 12 points in only nine minutes played after netting four three pointers. This is Oswego’s 15th win of the season and ninth conference win to keep the Lakers in fourth place in the SUNYAC standings. The team looks ahead as they travel with Women’s Basketball to Cortland on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip off.
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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.
