OSWEGO — Lakers Volleyball finished SUNYAC play this weekend at the Max Ziel Gymnasium that started with a match up against the Brockport Golden Eagles on Friday night. The team would battle back to eventually lose by 2 points in the fifth set. Lakers were led by Melissa Lussier (15 kills and 2 aces) and Shauna O’Flaherty (13 kills and 3 blocks) who allowed the Lakers to win set number four and force the match into set five. The following day, the Lakers battled the conference leader SUNY Geneseo in a tight four set match up. The group would lose the first two sets by only three points each to the Knights. Senior Julia Flohr (18 digs) led the Laker defense in the third set to send the match into the fourth before the Knights became victorious. This lose ends SUNYAC regulation play for Oswego, who was granted the six-seed for the SUNYAC Championship. The team will travel to Cortland on November 5th for the opening round.
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Women’s Hockey Preview versus Morrisville
OSWEGO, NY — The 9-6-4 Women’s Hockey team is back in action Wednesday night as Morrisville travels back into the Marano Campus Center for a NEWHL match up. The Mustangs last traveled into Oswego last Friday which gave the Lakers their second lost in as many games. The 0-2 setback was only the third time the Laker offense has been shutout all season. This is shocking as the team’s offense has producing more than last season. The group is averaging more goals per game along with more shot opportunities per game.
This increase comes in part from the success of their first line, Megan Teachout, Eryn Stewart, and Amber Thomas. The freshman, senior, and transfer have combined for 58 points out of a team total of 141. The three forwards all are a top the points chart with Teachout leading in goals and Stewart leading in assists.
The increased offense may be the only season improvement though as the Lakers have allowed more goals per game this season than last year. The 2.4 goals per game compared to the 2018-19 season total of 2.2 goals is odd due to the fact that Oswego’s defensive core along with starting goaltender has mostly stayed the same between the seasons. Senior Rachael Farmer has already played more games than last season as she is now the only goaltender on the team roster. The goalie’s goals against average has increased from 1.84 to 2.35 along with her save percentage decreasing from a .942 to a .910.
The Lakers still hold the second spot in the NEWHL standings right behind Plattsburgh who has clinched the division for the third straight year. Currently, Oswego is on pace to finish in their highest seeding since joining the league as the team has never been the second seed before. But Oswego is currently in a four way battle for that second spot as Potsdam, Morrisville, and Cortland all are within two points of each other. Due to this, tonight’s match up is important in the fact that without a win, the Lakers could fall outside the top four, and miss the playoffs for the first time in nine years. This game is also the last time Oswego would see these three teams in the regular season, as Oswego only has Buffalo State left to play in conference play. Puck drop is 7 p.m. tonight from the Marano Campus Center.
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Oswego State women’s hockey completes comeback against SUNY Potsdam
POTSDAM N.Y. — The Oswego women’s hockey team is in the midst of a fight for playoff seeding in the NEWHL. Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup in Potsdam they had three games remaining. The game against the Bears was a big one, the Lakers have already clinched a spot in the playoffs, but Potsdam still fighting for that final seed.
The Lakers took the first period. The lone goal of the period coming on the power play. Morgan Shines passed the puck up to the offensive blue line. Captain Philomena Teggart grabbed the puck and skated to the middle, Shines and Mack Hull set up a screen in front of goal and Teggart took a shot low on the goalies glove side and put it just inside the post. The Lakers killed a late power play for the Bears, and finished the first up on the scoreboard. They dominated the period, winning shots on goal 18-4.
The Lakers almost beat themselves at the start of the second period. A power play three minutes into the period for the Bears and a power play nine minutes in both got killed by the Lakers, with Laker goalie Joanna Hiebert making a few nice saves to keep the Lakers up. Unfortunately, quickly after the end of the second power play the Bears tied the game. Potsdam won possession at their offensive blue line setting up a two-on-two, and forward Kaylee Merrill threatened a pass but took it herself and scored a goal that was assisted by former Laker Megan Teachout. Just four minutes later Merrill picked off a Laker pass and took it one-on-one down the ice and scored a shorthanded goal to give the Bears a 2-1 lead and get her second goal of the night. Oswego again led in shot 15-11.
The third period started with the Lakers finishing off a penalty kill. The Lakers would go on the penalty kill again just before the three minute mark in the period. The Laker would kill it and clear the puck out of the defensive zone. The puck would skip a Bears players stick and Morgan Shines would gather and shoot it to the high blocker side for her team leading ninth goal and tie the game back up at two a piece with fifteen to go. The Lakers would go on a power play with 7:30 to go. Chyne Kennedy would make a key play to keep stop Potsdam for clearing the puck. She would pass the puck to Simone Bednarik who would pass it to Ariella Haas would put the puck in the back of the net for what was the game winning goal. The Lakers defensive would step up and stop a few Potsdam chances, including a late penalty kill, and the game would finish 3-2 in the Lakers favor. Joanna Hiebert would finish the game with twenty saves and improve her record to 10-3-1.
With the win, the Lakers have now won six straight and have a record of 14-0-7-1 (11-0-4-1 NEWHL). They are currently tied with Cortland in the standings, but sit a seed below due to the tiebreaker being head-to-head with the one seed, in this case Plattsburgh. The Lakers have two games left in the season and need to win out and need Cortland to lose one of their final two, both against SUNY Canton. The first of the Lakers final two games is Friday February, 18 in Morrisville against the Mustangs. WTOP10 will have continuing coverage of the Oswego women’s hockey team through the rest of the season and NEWHL playoffs.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY SHELBY PEPLOWSKI, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Men’s Basketball keeps Winning Ways versus Buffalo State
OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball continued pushed their winning streak to five Saturday evening as Oswego rolled through Buffalo State 86-66. The Lakers established an early lead due to freshman Jeremiah Sparks, who netted 16 first half points. Senior Joe Sullivan would finish with 18 points along with 13 rebounds to secure Oswego’s third conference win. This victory also pushes Head Coach Jason Leone into second place on the most wins list for the college. This win ties Oswego for second in the SUNYAC standings and 9-2 overall. The Lakers travel with Women’s Basketball this Tuesday to play New Paltz. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.
