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!
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
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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.
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Oswego State men’s soccer team advances to SUNYAC tournament semi-finals
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s soccer team (#6) defeated the Oneonta Red Dragons (#3) in a 2-1 shootout on Saturday, advancing to the SUNYAC semi-finals. This was the Lakers first win against Oneonta since 1965, ending a 56-year drought.
After falling to Oneonta on senior day just seven days prior, Oswego bounced back on an even bigger stage, earning the team’s first SUNYAC tournament win in Coach Dan Kane’s tenure there. It was a competitive bout from start to finish with Oneonta striking first in the 27th minute to take a 1-0 lead. The score would remain the same until the 64th minute after freshman midfielder Hajoon Lee scored off a pass from Kieran Gilroy. However, that would be the final goal of the game as neither team could find the back of the net throughout the rest of regulation and both overtime periods, forcing a shootout.
Through the first four rounds of the shootout, each player on both teams scored on their attempt. Though in the final round, Oneonta’s Malcom Swett hit the crossbar while sophomore defenseman Brendan Murphy made his attempt. In a match that took more than 110 minutes to declare a winner, the Lakers were able to edge the Red Dragons in a shootout, 5-4.
With their first-round victory, Oswego State will now travel to New Paltz to take on the Hawks in the SUNYAC semi-finals on Wednesday, Nov. 3rd. This will be the second time these two teams have met this season with the first game resulting in a 2-1 New Paltz victory on Oct. 22nd. Oswego will look to bounce back in the same way they did against Oneonta in hopes of advancing to the SUNYAC Championship final. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.
Image Provided By Will Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
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A Preview of the 2020 Pathfinder Bank/Oswego State Hockey Classic
OSWEGO, NY — In the first weekend of the new decade, Men’s Hockey welcomes in three out of conference teams to the 2020 Pathfinder Bank/Oswego State Hockey Classic. The 14th edition of the four team tournament is set to begin this Friday as the Lakers look to defend the title. This year, the competition is set to feature three nationally ranked programs, #9 University of New England, #10 Oswego, #14 Williams College, along with Saint Mary’s University traveling in from Minnesota. The Lakers, who currently sit atop the SUNYAC conference with an overall record of 7-3, will face the Saint Mary’s Cardinals at 7 p.m. on Friday in the semifinal round. The 3-5-1 Cardinals look to build on their win over Gustavus Adolphus College back on December 7th, while Oswego looks to bring home some recent success that was found on the road. #9 University of New England and #14 Williams college will face off before hand at 4 p.m. which will feature an offensive talented group from UNE against the defensive Ephs of Williams college. Tickets are being sold online for each day, WTOP 10 also has you covered all weekend with coverage of all four games from the Marano Campus Center.
