OSWEGO, NY — Wednesday evening, the Empire 8 Conference announced the cancellation of their fall sports for the Fall 2020 season. This unanimous decision came due to concerns of COVID-19 and the safety of student athletes. The sports that will be canceled are cross country, field hockey, football, men’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball. The conference has come out and stated that these sports will be given the opportunity to place in the Spring 2021 season if COVID-19 is less of a threat.
Although a majority of the Oswego State teams compete in the SUNYAC conference, Men’s golf is one of the few sports that is in the Empire 8 Conference. Oswego is an affiliate member of the conference, as the SUNYAC does not have a Men’s Golf Championship. The Lakers compete against Utica College, St. John Fisher College, Sage College, Elmira College, and Nazareth College in the Men’s Golf Championship. With the team playing half of their tournament in the fall, and half in the spring, the cancellation will affect the team for a portion of their season as of right now. Wresting is the only other Oswego State team in the Empire 8 conference.
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Men’s Soccer Held Scoreless; Hamilton Nets 4
OSWEGO, NY – The Hamilton Continentals came into town to take on the Oswego State Lakers, looking to avenge a 3-2 home loss from early last season. They wasted no time getting started, with Brady Hyland netting the opening goal just 10 minutes into the first half, and giving Hamilton an early 1-0 lead.
Hamilton continued with a physical, no-nonsense style of play, as Aedan Burke picked up an early yellow card in the 24th minute, at which point they had already recorded 6 team fouls.
The Lakers eventually found their footing and applied some pressure, but Hamilton’s back line held strong, as the Continentals held the Lakers shotless through the first 45, and went into the halftime break ahead 1-0.
In the second half, The Lakers’ defense collapsed early, as the Continentals struck three times in the first 20 minutes, with Griffin Weidner ,Troy Miller, and Sean Curran all adding their names to the score sheet, extending Hamilton’s lead to 4-0.
For the Lakers, sophomore goaltender Kyle Rose put on a clinic, recording 11 saves, but it simply wasn’t enough to counter the 15 shots on target that he faced from Hamilton. With a 4-0 loss vs Hamilton, the Lakers move to 0-1-1 on the season, and will head to Elmira this Saturday, still in search of their first goal of the season.
Written by: Mike Neckers
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Lakers Advance to Second Round of SUNYAC Tournament
OSWEGO, NY – The Women’s Soccer team put on an impressive performance against the Plattsburgh Cardinals on Saturday in an upset win 1-0 in overtime to advance to the second round of the SUNYAC Tournament.
The first half of the game was a defensive battle between both teams. Oswego was only able to get one shot which came from Brianna Winkler. Plattsburgh managed to get five shots off during the first half with Perri Anderson recording one save. Plattsburgh had recorded five shots during the first half with two coming from both Nicole Kingsley and Kirsten Villemaire. Villemaire would finish the day with a game-leading five shots for the Cardinals.
In the second half, the Cardinals had 14 shots and Oswego would record eight. Lugina Serrao would lead the Lakers on the day with three shots. The Lakers would finish with ten shots with six being shots on goal while Plattsburgh had ten shots with five being shots on goal. Anderson in the second half would record three more saves as she finished the day with four saves. The game would go into overtime at 0-0 where in the early stages of overtime no one could score. Plattsburgh missed a chance to end the game on a 1:1 opportunity as Anderson made an incredible save to prevent a Cardinals win. The Lakers were able to capitalize off a corner kick that Graisa Madden was able to get into the net as Amber McDermott made a huge assist for the Lakers to secure a 1-0 overtime win against the Cardinals.
The Lakers will travel to Cortland on Wednesday, November 2 at Fred T. Holloway Field at 1 PM to face off against the Red Dragons in the second round of the SUNYAC tournament. The Lakers will be looking to make up for their loss against Cortland earlier this season. They will be looking for their first win against Cortland since the 2018 season. This marks the second time in seven years that the Lakers have made it to the second round of the SUNYAC Tournament dating back to 2015 when they lost to Oneonta 2-1.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego State Softball Falls to Fredonia to Wrap Up 2021 Season
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State Softball team finished their 2021 season on Wednesday at Fredonia for a SUNYAC West doubleheader. The Lakers were swept by the Blue Devils by scores of 12-8 and 7-0, ending the season on a two game losing streak.
Game one started with two runs in the top of the first inning to open the game from the Lakers. Oswego would continue their offensive dominance by snagging five more runs by the middle of the 4th inning, lead by Taylor DuBois and Aleah Yaizzo. The two combined for 4 runs, 7 hits, and 6 RBIs. Fredonia would have an answer in the bottom of the inning with six runs to add to their two runs from the first two innings. The Blue Devils would continue to push on offense and grabbed four more runs by the end of the sixth inning. The Lakers were unable to bounce back after only snagging one run in the sixth inning. Madison Hoeflich would get tagged with the loss after yielding just four earned runs and striking out four Blue Devils.
Heading into game two, the Lakers looked to bounce back and get another split to end the 2021 campaign. The Blue Devils never let the Lakers see the light as the Fredonia squad was able to get a 7-0 shutout victory. Fredonia tallied 6 runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a big lead over the Lakers. There were no runs scored after that point in the contest, and Oswego’s Leah Czerwinski secured a double that was the lone hit from the Lakers. Hoeflich and Samantha Morgan split time on the mound, each securing three strikeouts over the course of their time pitching.
In terms of the SUNYAC Championship, Oswego was eliminated from contention a week ago but could have played spoiler as Fredonia now holds second place in the division with a 9-7 record. Buffalo State is the only team in the SUNYAC West who has clinched a playoff spot. Geneseo and Brockport can still catch Fredonia for the second and final spot as the two teams have a doubleheader against each other this week. Oswego will finish in last in the division with a 5-11 conference record and overall post a 8-14 record.
For Gabrielle Rivers, her first season as head coach had its ups and downs as the Lakers split doubleheaders six times and had a three game win streak during the middle of the season. Zoe Mennig lead the Lakers at the plate with a .423 average and 30 hits over the course of the season. Madelana Wrubel lead in the runs category, coming to home plate 16 times. Hoeflich lead the small pitching squad with a 2.48 ERA with five wins and five losses on the mound. The Lakers return 13 out of 16 players next season as the group looks to get back to the regular conference format.
Image Provided by William Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
