OSWEGO, N.Y — The Oswego State Lakers head into their third week of the season prepared for the start of conference play. The Lakers host SUNY Cortland in the Max Ziel Gymnasium Tuesday evening for the first time in 729 days. Oswego State kicked off the season with a 4-4 record which consisted of a successful season opener against the Keuka College Wolves. The 3-2 set win started Oswego on the right foot ahead of a weekend tournament in Morrisville. Seven contests later, Oswego will get set for a rematch against the Red Dragons after getting bounced from the post season in the opening round back in 2019.
The Red Dragons of Cortland head into the contest with an overall record of 5-2. SUNY Cortland swept the Cortland Red Dragon Classic back on Labor Day Weekend before heading on an away trip to New Jersey for a set of three games. The Red Dragons were ranked third overall in the 2021 SUNYAC Women’s Volleyball Preseason Poll back on August 25th. Oswego was ranked seventh by the head coaches in the conference.
The Lakers will look to get their first win against the Red Dragons since the 2018 season. Game one is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego State fans can check out all the action on WTOP 10 via the YouTube page.
Image Provided by Alexis Fragapane, Oswego State Athletics
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Oswego Victorious in Season Opener
OSWEGO NY – Oswego welcomed Wilkes University out of Pennsylvania to kick off the 2025 season. After a physical and hard-fought game by both sides, Courtney Key would help Oswego pick up the first win of the 2025 campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams were eager to get this first game going and that was evident as both teams shot out of a cannon to start the game. Nothing came easy in the early going as every ball was fought for and it was extremely physical.Oswego was the first one to strike as they found the back of the net in the first 10 minutes of play. Off a corner kick was the veteran, Courtney Key, to find the back of the net at 9:34. The header would sneak over the stretched hand of the Wilkes goaltender, Ava Long. The corner was sent in by Amber McDermott. The Senior-to-Senior connection got the Lakers up 1-0 to kick off the 2025 season.
Just a few minutes later Oswego extended the lead. Key would again capitalize on a Laker corner. Key would slide across the box with an extremely athletic play to put Oswego up by 2. The assist would go to Kyla Sustad, the first of many for the junior.
It took a while for the Colonels to get back in this one. In the 33rd minute, Wilkes would finally get their foot in the door. Jess Shea found nylon off a corner kick from the Sophomore, Elena Krajain. It was 2-1 going into half in the season opener for the Lakers.
The first half energy seemed to dwindle during the break. The second half started out much slower. Both teams had opportunities, but each team had a scorching hot defense that wouldn’t let up.Things shifted in the 33rd minute of the second period. A pass came from Kayla Baca and Schmitt did the rest. Schmitt would right foot it, and after a tip off the hand of Long, Schmitt found her first goal of the season. The lead was now 3-1 with the Lakers in complete control.
The Lakers would prevail after astounding success on the defensive side of the ball. Oswego wouldn’t pick up a save in this time period as the Colonels wouldn’t be able to get anything on goal. With a balanced attack through and through, the Lakers won the contest, 3-1.
WHAT’S NEXT
Oswego takes on the Knights of Geneseo on Tuesday. Oswego faces a challenge as the Knights had an impressive season in 2024 finishing 13-5-3. Kickoff will be at 4:00pm at Geneseo College Stadium.Luke Belanger’s POTG – Courtney Key (2 goals on 4 shots)
Written by: Luke Belanger
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Oswego State men’s hockey splits weekend in SUNYAC play
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s hockey team had another jam packed weekend with two conference games against Brockport and Geneseo. Heading into the games, Oswego was coming off a 2-1 win over the Cortland Red Dragons. The Lakers would extend their win streak Friday night on the road in Rochester at the Tuttle North Arena against the Golden Eagles. The Brockport team came into the contest with an overall record of 5-0 and receiving 24 votes in the USCHO Division III poll. Trent Grimshaw would strike first for the Lakers on the powerplay to give Oswego it’s first goal in the first period this season. The goal came 14:46 minutes into the period and was assisted by team points leader Connor Sleeth and defenseman Ben Addison. Oswego would add another power play goal in the second period off the stick of Rocco Andreacchi. The Lakers would complete the contest going 2/5 with the man advantage and Addison and Grimshaw would get credited with the assists on the goal. Brockport would answer during 4 on 4 hockey later in the period but would not be able to finish the comeback before the final buzzer sounded. Oswego netminder Steven Kozikoski would get the win in between the pipes and made 30 saves over the course of the contest.
The Lakers would head back to the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and set their sights on the number one ranked team in the nation, the Geneseo Ice Knights. These two teams faced off for the first time since the 2019-20 SUNYAC Championship game and Geneseo found themselves in a similar situation at the end of the contest. The Lakers would fall 6-1 to the Ice Knights, their fourth straight loss against the team. Geneseo would tally four goals in the first period, three of those against Kozikoski before the junior got pulled by head coach Ed Gosek. Eric Green would finish the contest for the Lakers. The junior goaltender also gave up three goals against making eight saves in between the pipes. The Lakers would win the shot battle 23 to 17 but would only be able to put one puck past Geneseo netminder Matt Petizian. Alex DiCarlo would ruin the shutout in the third period to find his third goal of the season.
After this weekend, Oswego remains towards the top of the SUNYAC conference with a record of 3-0-1-0-1 and 10 points. Geneseo remains at the top with 13 points and four wins and one tie. Plattsburgh State and Brockport along with Cortland all remain close behind the Lakers heading into Thanksgiving Break. Oswego will take this weekend off from conference play and head to Williamstown, Massachusetts to take on Williams College. Games are scheduled for Friday night and Saturday afternoon as the Lakers look to improve their overall record. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State men’s hockey team as the group continues their 2021-22 season.
Image Provided by Shelby Peplowski, WTOP 10 Photography Department
Graphic Provided by SUNYAC Conference
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Oswego State men’s lacrosse battles with SUNY Geneseo
GENESEO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team traveled down Interstate 90 to the SUNY Geneseo’s campus to take on the Knights in another SUNYAC matchup this past Friday night. The Lakers would fall 11-10 to the Knights of SUNY Geneseo after Oswego State could not complete the comeback late in regulation. The Lakers would fall to 3-1 in the SUNYAC and 8-3 overall as their lengthy win streak comes to an end.
Ryan Eccles would open the scoring with 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Eccles would 2 goals and 1 assists for 3 points over the course of the contest. Gavin Elston and Corey O’Connor would lead the team on offense with 4 points at the end of regulation. The Lakers would have the lead heading into the second half, but SUNY Geneseo was able to tie the game heading into the fourth and final quarter. Elston and Liam Sexton looked to lead the comeback in the final 5 minutes of the game but the Knights were able to hold the Lakers to only 10 goals. Aiden Kenyon would make 17 saves during the contest in between the pipes for Oswego State. His goals against average is now 8.88 goals against per game.
The Lakers fall to fourth in the conference with a record of 3-1. The team is tied with SUNY Brockport and has a good chance of heading back to the post season with only 3 games remaining before playoffs. Next Saturday, the Lakers will head to SUNY Oneonta to take on the Red Dragons. SUNY Oneonta is currently 1-3 in the conference with a 2-9 overall record. The Lakers will then host SUNY Cortland and SUNY Brockport to round out the season, two teams that sit above Oswego State in the SUNYAC season standings. WTOP 10 will continue to provide coverage of the Oswego State men’s lacrosse team as the group looks for a berth to the post season.
Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics (@OswegoAthletics)
