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Red Dragons Spoil Laker’s Senior Night
OSWEGO, N.Y – The Lakers suffered a tough loss at home during Senior Day as they fell to the Oneonta Red Dragons 1-0. This was the first time the Lakers lost at home this season.
The first half of the game was a defensive battle between the two teams. The first shot of the game would come from Emily Applegate but her shot was blocked by Oneonta’s defense. Immediately after Applegate’s shot was blocked, Lugina Serrao attempted a shot but her shot was blocked as well. Amber McDermott then attempted to shoot the missed shot by Serrao but she would miss. The Lakers recorded four shots during the first half but none were shots on goal.
In the second half, both teams started off slow. There would be 21 throw-ins in just the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Red Dragons would get their first shot in the second half at the 77-minute mark. Oswego would get their first chance to score around the 82-minute mark as Amber McDermott’s shot would be missed high into the air. Oneonta would score the only goal of the game as Gianna Gritzmacher would score the goal for Red Dragons as she was assisted by Tara Nicholson. Both Oneonta and Oswego would record a total of 5 saves during the game. Goalie Perri Anderson would record only one save during the game.
The Lakers face the Fredonia Blue Devils on October 19th at 3 PM at University Stadium. The Lakers are looking to get back in the win column as they have two games remaining this season both of them being SUNYAC matchups.
PHOTO CREDITS PROVIDED BY MICHELLE QUIACHON, WTOP PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Men’s Hockey sweeps biggest weekend of season
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men’s hockey team came into the weekend with one goal in mind, sweeping the weekend and clinching a SUNYAC regular season title. The had the advantage of both games being at home, but both opponents coming in had playoff aspirations of their own.
Game one of the weekend was against the Buffalo State Bengals. The Lakers quickly put themselves at a disadvantage, taking two penalties, and bing 5-on-3 for a bit, but ultimately killed both. It took about seven minutes for the first goal to find netting. Trent Grimshaw grabbed his fourth goal of the season to get the Lakers on the board, but Buffalo State quickly answered. A little more than a minute later, Joe Glamos tied the game for the Bengals. The game remained at ones for a while, but the Lakers grabbed the lead back. Ryan Bunka gave his team lead. Once again, the lead only lasted a little more than a minute, Joe Glamos again tying the game up. The score ties at two, both squads went to the locker room. Cal Schell had six saves for Oswego in the first, Liam Gross, for Buffalo State had 13.
In the second period, the game remained at 2-2 for almost the entire time. Buffalo took one penalty during the period, but killed it. It took until less than four minutes for the first goal of the second frame to happen. Ryan Dickinson giving the Lakers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. With less than a minute to play in the frame Connor Gatto doubled the lead. Rocco Andreacchi and Shane Bull being credited with assists on both goals in the period, and Andreacchi getting his third of the game. Schell had another six saves in the period, Gross adding another 14.
The third period saw Trent Grimshaw continue his scoring ways. He would score twice getting his first collegiate hat-trick. His goals were split by one for Buffalo State. In the third, the Lakers had two power-play opportunities that they wouldn’t capitalize on. Oswego took the first game of the weekend, 7-3, and clinched at top-two seed in the playoffs. Ten different Lakers got a point in the game, five of them more than one. Schell ended the game with 17 saves, Gross had 38.
The final game of the Lakers regular season was Senior Night. The Lakers recognized all-their seniors in a post-game ceremony. The game was against the Fredonia Blue Devils. Once again the Lakers came out flying. Just past the six minute mark, Oswego found the scoreboard twice in 15 seconds. The first score came off the stick of Conor Smart. Quickly after the restart of play, it was Tommy Cahill giving Oswego a 2-0 lead. The Lakers weren’t done there though, Drake Semrad gave Oswego a 3-0 lead in the tenth minute of the first period. Alex DiCarlo wanted to be part of the scoring parade, scoring the Lakers fourth and final goal of the first period. Eight different Lakers got assists in the first. Cal Schell had eight saves in the first period, while Logan Dyck had 13.
The Blue Devils made a goalie switch in the second. Charles-Anthony Barbeau was put in net. The second period was Conor Smart‘s period. He scored the Lakers first two goals of the second, and scored his first collegiate hat-trick. Daniel Colabufo got himself one final goal of the regular season as well, in the third. Before the end of the period, Fredonia picked up a penalty, that would be impactful in the third. With a 7-0 lead going into the break, the Lakers looked good to secure their first regular season title since 2018-19, but still had one to go. Schell had seven saves in the second, Barbeau had 17.
Fredonia made another goalie switch in the third, giving Dalton Jerzak some game time in the final game. The penalty that carried through to the third quickly became impactful, Ben Addison getting his second goal of the season. Less than a minute later Garrett Clegg scored his first goal of the season, on his senior night. The rest of the game was scoreless and the Lakers walked away with a 9-0 victory and a SUNYAC regular season championship. Smart was the only Laker with multiple goals, but six Lakers got multiple assists, 11 total getting at least one assist. Schell finished the game with 20 saves, Jerzak had 16 saves in the third.
Oswego now awaits an opponent for the SUNYAC semi-final that will be played in Oswego, they will play the lowest remaining seed after the SUNYAC quarter-final games played on Wednesday night. The semi-final game will be played on Saturday at 7:00.
At the end of the regular season, Alex DiCarlo was the teams leading goal scorer with 12 throughout the season. Shane Bull was the team’s leading assist and point getter, with 18 assists and 27 points. Cal Schell finished the season with a 2.19 Goals Against Average and .924 save percentage.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY EMILY RUSINKO, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Lakers Fly Past Cardinals in SUNYAC Tournament Berth
For the 19th straight season, the Oswego State Lakers have clinched the SUNYAC Tournament and what a better way to do it than on Valentine’s day. The Lakers defeated the Cardinals on Friday night during their six point victory thanks to a combined, 43 point effort from seniors Brandon Gartland and Joe Sullivan.
Plattsburgh kept it close throughout the first half while using their best rendition of ‘Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better’. Each time the Lakers grabbed a bucket on one end, the Cardinals always had an answer. Oswego held the lead by four points or less through the first ten minutes of the contest but three minutes later, with an already shallow selection on the bench, Plattsburgh Head Coach Mike Blaine had some decision making to do following the injury of Forward Jeremy Eisenmen. Eisenmen went down hard after crashing the boards and was clutching his left knee. He was able to put pressure on it but would not return to the game.
In his absence, Matt Bernhard, a 5’10” stud off the bench, executed a perfect first half of shooting off the bench. Aside from his one missed free throw, he shot 3-3 from distance and 4-4 from the field ending with 12 of the Cardinals 34 points at halftime.
Brandon Gartland shot five for eight from behind the arc in the first half, good enough to lead the book with 15 points at the break. Joe Sullivan was a vital part of the first half for the Lakers tallying nine free throw attempts and sinking five of them. Sullivan struggled to find his rhythm early on but that would change going into the second half.
General Joe flipped the switch coming out of the locker room scoring 12 of his 21 in the second frame. Sullivan shot 5-13 in the second half and ended with 8 rebounds and 8 assists to add onto his impressive scoring performance. Coach Leone was happy with his big man’s performance.
“Joe plays hard every night,” Leone said. “He’s a senior and he is doing what we would hope seniors do at this point in their senior season. I’m really pleased with the things he did tonight. He deserves it.”
However, Gartland went in the opposite direction having a rather quiet second half. He scored just seven points adding his total to 22 without a single three pointer in after the break. “They were sticking a little tighter to me,” Gartland expressed. “Other people were making plays and we were still scoring.” For what he lacked on the offensive end, he made up for on the defensive end with four steals and a couple big time stops down the stretch.
Plattsburgh got into some foul trouble five minutes into the second half when Erik Salo was charged with his fourth personal. Now with Eisenmen injured and Salo playing restricted and cautious minutes, the only other options off the bench were Marlon Todd and freshman Lamont Hough Jr. who never saw the floor.
With six to go, the Lakers turned on the after-burners going on an 8-2 run in a minute and 28 seconds taking a 69-61 lead with 4:05 remaining. The Cardinals never came back from this lead, falling short to the Lakers 75-69. It came down to protecting the ball tonight and Plattsburgh was not proficient in that category. Averaging 15 turnovers a game, Coach Blaine’s Cardinals exceeded that margin with 16 and 11 of those turnovers came in the second half.
Coach Jason Leone was excited about clinching the SUNYAC tournament for the ninth time in his nine years as the head coach of Oswego State but recognized that there was still work to do following Friday night. “We’re in the playoffs,” Leone expressed. “So now we are in a battle to try and get a home game. Every game has a significant meaning from here on out.” With Potsdam traveling to Laker hall at 4:00 pm for the second game of the back to back, the Lakers have a win under their belt and look to continue their winning ways after Improving to 16-5 on the year.
