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A Look Ahead: Whiteout Weekend
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The most important weekend of the year to most SUNY Oswego and community members comes around as the Oswego State men’s hockey team hosts Potsdam and Plattsburgh State for Whiteout Weekend. The Lakers host the 2022 edition of the rivalry weekend as fans are expected to pack the Deborah F. Stanley Arena this weekend. Oswego State played both teams on the road earlier in the season which resulted in a 2-1 win against Potsdam and a 2-2 tie against the Cardinals. The Lakers are currently 10-4-1 overall this season and 5-1-1 in the SUNYAC conference.
Friday night will be the 106th matchup between the Potsdam Bears and the Oswego State Lakers. Oswego owns the matchup history with an overall record of 74-29-2 against the Potsdam Bears. Potsdam comes into the contest looking for their first conference win of the season. The Bears are currently last in the SUNYAC conference and are looking to turn their season around before the group is eliminated from playoff contention. Oswego State looks to continue their win streak against Potsdam that currently sits at five straight wins, dating back to December 7th, 2018. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Marano Campus Center to kick off whiteout weekend.
The following day, the rivalry will write another chapter as the Oswego State Lakers take on the Plattsburgh State Cardinals in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The Lakers are on the losing side of the history book with a record of 44-79-9 against Plattsburgh State. Prior to the matchup earlier this season, the Lakers were on a four game win streak against the Cardinals that dated back to February 23rd, 2019. Plattsburgh State heads into the weekend with a 9-5-3 overall record and will faceoff against Cortland Friday night before heading up Interstate 81 to Oswego. The Cardinals are in fifth in the SUNYAC conference which features a four team race for second place. Currently, Oswego State and the rest of those teams are in a log jam behind Geneseo who is undefeated in conference play this season. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena on the banks of Lake Ontario.
WTOP 10 will be live at 6:30 p.m. with a complete pre-game show on Friday night. On Saturday, the student run television station will have a hour long pre-game show kicking off at 6:00 p.m. from the perch. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State men’s hockey team as the group continues their 2021-22 season.
Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics (@OswegoAthletics)
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Michael Gillespie signs first professional contract
OSWEGO, NY — On Wednesday morning, Senior Michael Gillespie of the Men’s Hockey team signed a professional contract with the Worcester Railers of the ECHL, the East Coast Hockey League. The Railers are affiliated with the New York Islanders and are located in Worcester, Massachusetts. Michael Gillespie tallied 24 points (6 goals and 18 assists) in 25 games played during his senior season with the Lakers. The Laker would play three seasons in Oswego, each season finishing with a minimum of 24 points and putting a career high 26 points up his junior season. The forward finished with a career 74 points (23 goals and 51 assists) in 76 games played. The 5’ 8” New York native will fill a play maker role for the Railers as he prepares with his new team. Gillespie, along with recent signee James Anderson from Mercyhurst University, will join the group ahead a three game weekend featuring two home games. Both players are expected to make their professional debuts this weekend. The Laker will wear number 20 for his new team.
The Worcester Railers are currently last in the North Division with 46 points through 61 games played. The 21-36-4 group are set to play two divisional games against the main Mariners, who are currently in 4th, with a home-and-home series set to be played Friday and Saturday. The Railers will have puck drop at 7 p.m. at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center against the Mariners before traveling to Portland for another 7 p.m. matchup on the road. Worcester will then travel back home to welcome the Norfolk Admirals for a Sunday matinee game at 3 p.m. for an out of conference game. The Admirals are currently last in their given division with only 36 points in 60 games played. Of course, with the current state of the COVID-19, these games may not be played due to the league postponing competition. The NHL is set to announce their plans for action moving forward, and usually the ECHL along with the AHL will follow suit to their parent league.
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Oswego Baseball: SUNYAC playoff review and national tournament preview
OSWEGO N.Y. — The SUNYAC playoffs have come and gone. A disappointing weekend for the Lakers saw them knocked out before the championship game. The tournament started Thursday with a game against Plattsburgh, followed by two games Friday for the Lakers against Cortland followed by Brockport.
Thursdays game against the Cardinals was always going to be the easiest for Oswego. Plattsburgh found the scoreboard first, a bases loaded sac fly scored Alex Kornbla from third. The Lakers quickly answered. The Lakers loaded the bases with none out. A Kyle Lauria single scored Paul Tammaro to tie the game. Ryan Weiss hit a sac fly in the ensuing at bat scoring Ryan Enos for the Lakers second run. Oswego struck again in the bottom of the third, scoring five runs and extending the lead to 7-1. Plattsburgh had one runner cross the plate in the bottom of the fifth for their final run of the game. Oswego scored five more runs in the sixth inning to get the lead to ten runs. Two more runners scored in the seventh, and got their 15th and final runner to cross in the eighth inning for a 15-2 win. Paul Tammaro and Kyle Lauria combined for the lead in hits for Oswego, each having three. Ryan Weiss drove in four runners, the most on the team. Thomas Pecchia got the start for Oswego. He pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out two.
The second game of the tournament was a rematch with the Cortland Red Dragons. The Lakers took two of three games in the series with them only a few weeks prior, and the Red Dragons wanted revenge. Oswego crossed the plate first, a solo home run in the bottom of the second off the bat of Ryan Weiss gave the Lakers the early lead. Cortland answered in the top of the fourth. They would load the bases with none out. A double play would take out two runners, but one scored tying the game. A double scored one more to give Cortland the lead. Oswego wouldn’t let hold the lead long, another Ryan Weiss homer, this one a two run shot, gave the Lakers the lead back in the bottom of the fourth. Cortland took the lead straight back though, scoring four in the top of the fifth for a 6-3 advantage. In the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Weiss drove in his fourth run on a sac fly to cut down the lead. Cortland extended their lead with two more runs in the sixth. Oswego wasn’t letting the Red Dragons get any further away in the bottom of the sixth. They loaded the bases without an out, but Cortland buckled down to get two outs. Lukas Olsson stepped into the batter box and sent the ball out of the park to tie the game at eight. Cortland took the lead back in the top of the eighth, scoring three times to get a 11-8 lead. A ninth inning single by Julian Drew brought home one for the Lakers, but they took their first loss of the double elimination tournament. Julian Drew led the team with three hits. Lukas Olsson and Ryan Weiss combined to drive in eight of the Lakers nine runs. Kieran Finnegan got the start for Oswego. he pitched four and two thirds innings, allowing nine hits, six runs, only two earned, walking two and striking out two.
With the loss to Cortland, the Lakers played another game on Friday, this one against the Brockport Golden Eagles. Oswego struck first, Ryan Weiss and Julian Drew each driving in a run on singles for an early 2-0 lead. Brockport tied the game in the third inning, a two run single off the bat of Tom Kretzler. Frank Levanti scored on a balk in the bottom of third to take the lead back for the Lakers, but Brockport tied it with a double in the top of the fifth. In the top of the seventh, back to back solo home runs gave the Golden Eagles the lead, and a one run single later in the inning extended the lead to 6-3. Ryan Weiss drove in one in the bottom of the seventh for the Lakers final run of the game. Brockport had four runners cross the plate in the top of the eighth and two more in the top of the ninth for the 12-4 win, and knocked Oswego out of the tournament. Ryan Enos’ three hits led the Lakers. Ryan Weiss had a team leading two RBIs. Anthony Van Fossen got the start for Oswego. He pitched six and two thirds innings, allowing five runs on ten hits, not walking any and striking out two. Cortland would beat Brockport in the Championship game.
After Monday’s selection show, the Lakers will head down to Glenside, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia. They will take on Elizabethtown College from Elizabethtown, PA. The Elizabethtown Blue Jays won the Landmark Conference Championship after finishing the regular season in third with a 22-20 (11-7 Landmark) record. The Blue Jays are led by third basemen Robbie Bertucio. He had 59 hits in 42 games played this season, a .376 batting average with eight doubles and three home runs, driving in 32. Their second best hitter was outfielder Andrew Fisher. He hit .329 with six doubles. They also have pitcher/outfielder Ben Watson. At the plat hit hit .408 with eight doubles and eight home runs and two triples, he hit three home runs in one game. On the mound he pitched 18 innings, allowing 16 runs, walking 16, and striking out 14. On the mound they are led by Eric Sipling. In 47 innings, he had a 2.09 ERA, in 18 appearances, only one start, he struck out 46. Starter Tyler Dunbar pitched 75.2 innings, had a 4.64 ERA in 12 starts, he struck out 63. On the other side of the regional bracket is Arcadia University, the hosts of the regional, taking on Husson University.
IMAGE COURTESY OF WILLIAM ROGERS, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
