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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Where There’s Sparks, There’s Fire
Bethlehem, PA – The Lakers sailed down to Moravian College for the 40th Steel Club Classic picking up two wins on the perfect weekend. Their first matchup was against Montclair State who had scored over a hundred points in multiple games this season but couldn’t produce against the reigning SUNYAC championship defense of the Oswego Lakers. The Redhawks scored 73 points good enough for a season-low in their first 11 games this year, but it wasn’t a cakewalk win for the Lakers.
Montclair State ran a baseline to baseline trap on Oswego from the opening tip until the horn sounded at the end of the game. Senior Brandon Gartland shot 5 for 6 from beyond the arc exploiting no-easy-inside-bucket Redhawk defense. Junior Liam Sanborn finished the game with 22 points and helped control the pace of the game when Montclair began to chip away at the lead in the second half. Coach Leone expressed that Liam is “the guy who runs the show for us” and as good as he was on Saturday, it was a different story come Sunday.
Sanborn got into foul trouble early in the game against the Moravian College Greyhounds and didn’t see the floor much in the first half. Ending the game with 6 total points, Sanborn wasn’t the normal floor general for the Lakers. Freshman Jeremiah Sparks was the ‘spark horse’ on Sunday scoring 32 points bringing his total up to 50 on the weekend. Sparks plugged the hole in his offensive game after having five turnovers on Saturday against the Redhawks and Coach Leone was pleased with his performance.
“[Jeremiah] has obviously got some g-d given ability with his athleticism,” Coach Leone praised, “tonight might have been Jeremiah’s best game in terms of moving the ball when he was double-teamed.”
Sparks was also a presence on the defensive end tonight registering two steals and three monster blocks against the Hounds–the only three blocks of the game for Oswego. Freshman Kaleb Cook was in the backcourt with Sparks and he came up with a couple of clutch buckets and rebounds down the stretch. This turned out to be another point of emphasis for Leone regarding his comfort levels with the depth on his team.
“We finished the game with two freshman guards out there,” Leone said “so that’s pretty good for the future of our program. It was a great thing for them to be able to go through that experience especially during a win.”
Although, this win may have been a loss if it wasn’t for Joe Sullivan’s ability to flip the switch in the second half. Sullivan was non-existent in the first half ending without a bucket but through all of the adversity Oswego played against being in Moravian’s backyard, he finished with 22 second-half points.
“We challenged a couple of guys at halftime.” Leone expressed, “Like a senior should, [Sullivan] stepped up his game and played a great second half. We wouldn’t have won without him.”
Joe Sullivan finished with five boards to add to his second-half outburst and went 10 for 11 from the charity stripe. Funny enough, his missed free throw would be the ONLY missed free throw on the night for the Lakers. Oswego made 37 free throws on 38 attempts which helped seal the deal late in the game. Coach Leone was satisfied by their efforts at the line tonight.
“That was the thing I was most happy about.” Leone said, “I don’t know if we made that one we missed if it would be some kind of record for us. 37 out of 38 is pretty impressive and our guys deserve a lot of credit on that.”
Sullivan and Gartland combined for 21 of 22 at the free-throw line on Sunday night as the Lakers outran the Greyhounds winning by a score of 85 to 79 and improve to 7-2 on the year. The Lakers will play their home opener this Friday against Fredonia at 7:30 p.m. in Max Zeil Gymnasium, and look for Jeremiah Sparks to continue to produce as he grows into a future SUNYAC star.
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Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse Prepares for Rematch Against Buffalo State
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego Women’s Lacrosse team is looking to end their 3-game losing streak as they take on the Buffalo State Bengals on Monday, April 19th. This will be the Lakers second game against Buffalo State this season, with their previous matchup being a 14-6 victory on April 10th. Oswego has four games left in the regular season and the push for the playoffs has begun across the women’s lacrosse west division.
The outcome of Monday’s contest will have a pivotal impact on Oswego’s postseason chances. After a 13-point loss to SUNY Brockport on April 17th, the Lakers dropped to 3-3 on the season and 2-2 in SUNYAC games. With only three games left in the season following their matchup against Buffalo State, it’s important for Oswego to win in order to stay within reach of one of the playoff spots in the west division. Buffalo State is currently on a 6-game losing streak, including a 23-2 loss vs the Brockport Golden Eagles on April 16th. The Bengals will be lead by senior midfielder and leading scorer, Samantha Burlow, who has 10 goals on the season. Sophomore goalkeeper, Janae Nelson, has totaled 65 saves on the season and will anchor the Buffalo State defense all game. Though, she’ll be facing a high-powered Laker offense, lead by Sela Wiley, who’s scored 22 goals this season. Look for freshman midfielder, Shae McConnell, to have a big role in this game as she scored 4 goals in their previous game against Buffalo State. Both teams are desperate for a late season win, so expect a competitive game on Monday. Oswego is 17-10 against Buffalo State all-time and will look to improve their record to 2-0 versus the Bengals in 2021. Face off is set for 4:00 p.m. at Laker Turf Stadium and WTOP 10 will be at the field for all the action.
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Oswego State Baseball Sweeps New Paltz
Oswego State Baseball went on the road to take on New Paltz in a Tuesday afternoon SUNYAC East vs West doubleheader on April 6th. The Lakers offense erupted for 35 runs combined in both games which led the Lakers to two victories by scores of 24-12, and 11-3, as the Lakers overall record moves to 3-1.
Both offenses were firing on all cylinders in game one, as New Paltz scored 12 runs on 15 hits, but that was no match for the 24 runs on 17 hits the Lakers produced. Every Oswego batter that had three or more at bats got a hit in game one, and multiple batters had numerous RBIs and runs. Myles Felton led the Lakers with 4 RBIs, he was 1-4 at the plate with a double, and Felton was one of five Lakers to have an extra base hit in game one. Paul Tammaro and Connor Stanton each had three hits and a double apiece as they touched home plate a combined eight times. Frank Levanti also had himself a three hit day as he was 3-5 with 3 RBIs and 3 runs. Ryan Weiss contributed two doubles, two runs, and an RBI to the Laker offense, and Jacob Levine hit his second home run of the year as he had a 2 RBI day. Dean Stalzer of New Paltz led the Hawks offense as he was 3-5 with 3 runs, and 6 RBIs, but six of the eight Hawks pitchers gave up multiple runs as the Oswego offense was overpowering in game one.
The Oswego offense carried over into game two, as they scored 11 runs on 10 hits. Most of this Oswego offense was insurance runs in their 6-run 5th inning and 2-run 6th inning, as Jai Sharma shined on the mound in his first collegiate appearance. Sharma threw all 6 innings as he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, but fanned 8 batters in the process. Sharma’s fellow freshman classmate Levine kept his hot bat going as he was 2-3 with a double, triple, and 4 RBIs, to help the Lakers sweep the doubleheader.
Oswego had 35 runs and 27 hits on the day as their offense came ready to hit today. Oswego State Baseball continues their 2021 season with their home opener doubleheader on Thursday, April 8th at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. versus Alfred State. WTOP 10 will be live at the baseball field with all the action as the Lakers continue their march towards their fourth SUNYAC Championship in as many years.
