OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s basketball team hosted SUNY Cortland in a hard fought SUNYAC opener last night. The 3-3-1 Lakers looked to pick up momentum after a dominant win Sunday night. Despite a valiant effort, the Lakers came up short. With a final score of 67-53 the Lakers continued to fight until the final buzzer. Cortland had a twelve point lead at the end of the first quarter that unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the game. The Lakers put up a fight and kept the game close. Senior Danielle Caivana was on fire scoring a whopping twenty-three points this game. Despite Caivana’s outstanding performance, Cortland refused to let up and fought their way to victory. Sophomores Chastin Giles and Caitie Lilly were the other key contributors for the Lakers. While this loss must have stung for the Lakers, they turn their attention towards another SUNYAC matchup against the Buffalo State Bengals December 3rd in the Max Zeil Gymnasium. Tip-Off is at 5:30 p.m. on WTOP 10!
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Lakers Show Out in Oswego Volleyball Classic
Oswego, N.Y. – The Oswego State volleyball team welcomed a slew of squads to the Max Ziel gymnasium on Friday as the Oswego State Invitational kicked off, with the Lakers taking on the Brockport Golden Eagles in the first contest of the day at 2 p.m.
The Lakers controlled the tempo from the outset, as an offensive onslaught from the home squad led to an early 10-4 lead. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, errors loomed large, and they struggled to find a semblance of footing. The Lakers operated off of beneficiaries Grace Gdovin, Priscilla McReynolds and Kalley Vugteveen and others, to help lift the squad to a 25-14 win in the first set.
The second set was far tighter than the first, with ties and lead changes occurring amidst a competitive bout. The Golden Eagles found an edge when they went up 18-13, but the Lakers would not go down without a fight. They climbed all the way back, and the contest was eventually knotted up at 23, but late-stage heroics from Gigi Basile and Vugteveen pushed the Lakers over the hump as they took the second set, 25-23, to go up 2-0.
The third set replicated what happened in much of the second, with both squads matching up evenly. The Golden Eagles fought tooth and nail, and while they were able to generate momentum, errors once again proved to be more than costly. Moreover, the Lakers applied an aggressive offensive attack that was fueled by high-IQ plays, which led them to a 22-18 lead, and eventually a 25-21 win, thanks to Alaina Dudzinski and Gdovin coming through as clutch. The Lakers laid claim to their first victory of the day, and would hand the court to Western Connecticut and Keuka, as the two faced off at 4 p.m.
The sophisticated offensive schemes of Western Connecticut overpowered Keuka, as one of the constitution state’s own came out on top, 3-0. They held a height advantage, which allowed them to meet their opponents at the net and deny potential chances at scoring. That was one of many deciding factors in their dominant 25-10 win in set one, and the momentum wouldn’t slow down in the next.
While Keuka came out more competitive in the second set when they jumped out to a 5-4 lead, Western Connecticut remained undeterred. They tacked on five unanswered points amid a communication struggle within the confines of Keuka, and would eventually pull away while working in a tighter defense to take the set 25-15, and go up 2-0. The third and final set saw Western Connecticut return to their roots, as they took a 5-1 lead early on. Keuka made a late push that cut the deficit to just one, but an unfortunate overshot called out-of-bounds came as the game-clinching point for Western Connecticut, and they took the set 26-24 to claim a sweep.
The Wolves’ would return to the hardwood at 6 p.m., but their night would soon be spoiled, as the home-squad Lakers swiftly took them down, 3-0. Even with the sweep, each set balanced a competitive feel, with Keuka refusing to go down easily. The first saw the two tie 11 separate times, but the Lakers pulled away in the late stages when the Wolves committed an error, followed by a killshot from Priscilla McReynolds, which would give a first-set statement victory to the Lakers.
Keuka committed a strong playstyle in the second set, which assisted them in going up 14-11 early. However, the Lakers would quickly storm back, as both Vugteveen and Kalley put forth kills, succeeded by two-straight service aces from Gabriella Bishop. The outing remained even from there, with both teams trading conversions past the net. Thankfully for the Lakers, their top beneficiary in McReynolds came through swinging for a kill to make it 25-24, which was followed up with an unfortunate error from the opposition, which would give the Lakers the game-clinching point, for them to go up 2-0.
The momentum saw a drastic shift towards the Lakers in the final set, as they would double down on a tyrannical offensive attack that had the Wolves running around on eggshells. A victory would be returned to the shorelines of Lake Ontario, as a commanding performance helped the Lakers to come out as victors, 25-14, and end the night with a record of 2-0.
The day concluded with a scrappy battle between Pitt-Bradford and SUNY Canton on court one, with the Panthers coming out as victors, 3-1. While the Kangaroos took the first set, 25-23, the Panthers roared back and completely dominated in the second, highlighted by a commanding performance from Ruby Smith that helped her squad tie it up at one. From there it was all Panthers, as they came through strongly with schemes that were tough to match up against. They took the third and fourth sets, 25-20, and 25-21, to finish out day one of the event.
The competition opens back up tomorrow, when the Lakers take on the Wolves of Western Connecticut at 10 a.m., followed by a plethora of matches that conclude the annual Oswego State Invite.
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Oswego State Softball Splits Doubleheader with Fredonia
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego State Softball split a doubleheader at home against Fredonia on Sunday, April 18th with a 6-3 loss in game one and bouncing back in a 4-3 win in game two. Oswego and Fredonia are tied for second place in SUNYAC West, each team holding a 4-4 SUNYAC record at the end of Sunday.
Oswego saw their three game win streak get snapped in game one of the doubleheader, as the Lakers offense put up three runs on five hits. Oswego drew first blood in the bottom of the third inning when Madelana Wrubel and Leah Czerwinski would score on an error by Fredonia’s right fielder, on a ball hit by Madison Hoeflich. Fredonia answered back in the top of the fourth with a four run inning, including a three run home run, all four runs being the only earned runs Fiona Higgins would allow in her seven innings of work. Oswego was trailing 4-2 going into the bottom of the sixth, before Zoe Mennig would hit her third home run of the year, a solo shot to make it a one run deficit for the Lakers. Fredonia would put up two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning to take game one by a score of 6-3.
Mennig got the Lakers offense going in the first frame of game one on an RBI single that would score Wrubel. Oswego would score three more unanswered runs from innings two through five, Leah Czerwinski and Brianna LoMonaco would score courtesy of Fredonia errors, and Ellie Mahoney scored on a sacrifice fly from the bat of Tai Smith. Oswego led 4-0 going into the seventh inning, but the Blue Devils would put up three runs on Hoeflich who had been tremendous with six shutout innings prior to the final frame. Higgins would inherit a no out, runners on first and second situation with a one run lead in the seventh inning. After a ground out and a walk, Higgins found herself in a one out, bases loaded situation. Higgins got the batter to hit a ground ball to Wrubel at second base, who threw home for the force out to Mennig, who threw on to Taylor DuBois at first base to secure the 4-3 win.
Oswego and Fredonia are tied for second in the SUNYAC West at 4-4, the Lakers next play at Geneseo on Wednesday, April 21st at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Geneseo currently holds sole possession of first place in SUNYAC West with a 4-2 record including a 2-0 record against Oswego this season. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State Softball team as the squad continues their 2021 season.
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Women’s Soccer finishes their 2019 Season after splitting weekend
OSWEGO — Women’s Soccer finished their 2019 season this weekend against two strong SUNYAC conference teams. The Lakers started their final home stand versus Fredonia on Friday that ended in a 2-1 victory for the Blue Devils. However, sophomore Maggie Riordan would score the lone goal for Oswego just over five minutes into the game from a Graisa Madden pass. Fredonia would later get two past goalkeeper Sophia Portalatin, one coming before the end of the half and the second immediately at the start of the next half. Portalatin would rebound the following day against Buffalo State with a clean sheet in a 2-0 victory, the first SUNYAC win of the season. Lynsey Roth would snag two goals in the match up, one on a Penalty Kick and her second off the pass from freshman Katharine Balog. The team did not qualify for the SUNYAC championships, and finished their campaign with an overall record of 3-14.
