OSWEGO, N.Y. – It was a tough exhibition matchup for the Lakers as they went head to head against a very good Golden Flyers team. Nazareth is coming off an incredible season last year finishing with a 27-2-0 overall record and sweeping their conference 20-0. Despite the Golden Flyers losing a whopping thirteen seniors after last season they were still able to get the job done in the Deb. The Lakers had a rough start of the game not getting much going against a face paced Nazareth team. Nazareth opened up with a goal by Ivy Liden halfway through the first period. Heading into the second it was like night and day as the Lakers performed much better, tying it up with Nazareth with a goal from Megan Gates off of an assist by former Golden Flyer Taylor Hudon and Mia Conboy. Nazareth however answered right back with a goal by Ally Watrous to go up 2-1 heading into the third. The Lakers were not able to string a comeback as Ally Watrous would tack on another goal for the day to seal the Golden Flyers victory. The Lakers finish 0-2 in their exhibition matchups as they head into their first game of the season against Adrian College this Friday in the Deb Stanley Arena. Catch it live on WTOP10 at 7:00pm!
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Men’s hockey losses tough conference matchup
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men’s hockey team took to home ice for their lone game of the weekend on Friday for a SUNYAC matchup with the Cortland Red Dragons. It was the second meeting between the two this season, the Lakers won the last matchup 5-4. Cortland found the scoreboard first. After a tripping call against Oswego’s Ryan Dickinson, the Red Dragons capitalized on the power play. The game remained 1-0 for a good chunk of the first period, both teams putting chances on net, but the goal tenders playing well. Oswego was next to score, tying the game. Connor Gatto was one-on-one with the goalie and made an excellent move to deke around him and have a wide open net behind for the game-tier. The Lakers then took the lead, Tommy Cahill firing one past the goalie for the 2-1 lead, but Cortland wouldn’t let it stand for long. The Red Dragons would tie it again before the end of the first, with less than a minute to go. When the first period finally ended it was 2-2. Cal Schell made seven saves, the Cortland’s goalie, Luca Durante‘s six.
The Second period was more tame than the first. Only one goal found netting, this one in favor of the Red Dragons. Cortland’s second power play goal of the game, on their final power play opportunity. The goal was scored just after the half way mark in the period. Oswego wasted three different power play opportunities of their own, at one point being on a 5-3 for just under a minute. Oswego did have 14 shots on goal in the period, all of them saved by Durante. Schell had another seven saves of his own, to go with the one allowed goal.
The Lakers would re-tie the game early in the third. Alex DiCarlo snuck one by Durante. The Lakers had another two power-play chances in the period that they couldn’t capitalize on, they were an abysmal 0-6 in the game on the powerplay. Despite plenty more chances for each side, neither team would score again, and the game would go to OT. Durante had 17 more saves in the period, Schell amounting another 8.
Overtime didn’t last long, just a minute in Cortland scored a wrap-around goal to win it 4-3. Luca Durante amassed 39 saves in the contest, Schell had 24. Oswego out shot Cortland 42-28, Tommy Cahill leading Oswego in shots with 8. Shane Bull assisted on two goals in the contest.
Oswego is now 8-0-3-1 in the SUNYAC, putting them in second place with 17 points behind Plattsburgh, while also playing one extra game. Their next game is next Friday against the Geneseo Ice Knights in Oswego, the game is themed “Into the Knight”. Puck drop is set for 7:00 P.M. Coverage will start on https://www.youtube.com/@WTOP10TV at 6:30 with Hockey Night in Oswego.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego’s Men’s Lacrosse Team Set to Begin 2021 Season
OSWEGO, NY — The Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse Team is set to take on SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, March 20th to kick off their 2021 season. This will be the Oswego Men’s Lacrosse team’s first action in over a year due to the pandemic. However, unlike prior seasons, conference play is set to begin earlier than ever before, starting March 26th versus Geneseo. Senior goaltender Kevin O’Donnell understands just how important these early games are to set the tone for the rest of the season.
“With SUNYACs coming up so soon and those being the most important games for our team, the level of expectancy exceeds any other season in my opinion,” O’Donnell said. “Especially with the teams were playing, Morrisville, Oneonta, and then the rest of the SUNY division, it’s important that were on our A-game.”
O’Donnell is now a team captain and is looking to surpass 400 career saves in the coming games.
Being that this is the Lakers first game since March of 2020, it’s important that they eliminate any mistakes or confusion they might have. Head Coach Drew Bezek, who is going into his 7th season on the coaching staff, believes his team needs to master their game plan early on in order to be successful.
“With early season games, it’s always about limiting mistakes and doing what we need to do. A lot of times with the beginning part of the season, you’re not so worried about your competition and what they run. It’s us being super-efficient and consistent at what we’re trying to do.”
Although many things are different this season for the players, coaches, and staff, film sessions and scouting remain an important aspect of Oswego’s success. However, since teams only played a few games in 2020, the Lakers will have to anticipate Oneonta’s game plan based off what they saw from early last year.
Coach Bezek said, “We’ll treat this year similar to the past where for the first game of the year, your kind of going off tendencies from the previous year. We’re not going to know some of their new players, but from the film, we could try to piece together how they run their system.”
The Lakers have won their last four games vs. Oneonta dating back to 2016 and look to extend their win streak to five on Saturday.
Package Aired Thursday 3/18/21 on Nightly News
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Men’s Hockey Season Recap after SUNYAC run
GENESEO, NY — The Men’s Hockey team will head to Geneseo this weekend to battle for the SUNYAC Championship. The 16-9-1 Lakers have had an up and down season up to this point, as the group now is on a five-game winning streak fresh of a victory over rivals Plattsburgh. Oswego’s season started back on October 19th with an exhibition game against Carleton Place, then against Nazareth, both wins for the Lakers. The group would head into the regular season and secure four conference wins in a homestand at the Marano Campus Center that would give them first place in the SUNYAC standings.
One turning point in the season came from a road trip to Geneseo, to face a nationally ranked team in the same barn that Oswego lost the SUNYAC Championship in last season. The Lakers would fall apart and lose 9-1 as multiple Lakers would be tossed from the game and miss their next matchup against Hobart. This game would be the start of a three-game losing streak against nationally ranked teams, Hobart and Salve Regina in the Utica Thanksgiving Tournament. Oswego would turn it around on that Saturday in Utica against Plymouth State to give the Lakers hope as the team continued into the last week of the first half of the season. The Lakers would head on the road and swept the Buffalo teams in the conference to finish 7-3 in the first semester.
Oswego would come back from Christmas Break to play in the annual Pathfinder Bank/Oswego State Classic in which the team would first face off against Saint Mary’s. The defending champs would fall to the mid-west team 1-0 and face UNE the following day and also lose 4-3 to start the new year off on the wrong foot. This losing streak would continue against two more nationally ranked teams in the month of January as Utica and Elmira defeated the Lakers in the Marano Campus Center. The Lakers would not defeat any nationally ranked team this season as the group would go 0-6 against those teams, one of the biggest eyesores of the 2019-2020 season.
After losing to Cortland in overtime, Steven Kozikoski, the sophomore netminder that has not played in a regular season game for the Lakers, got his shot in between the pipes as both senior goalies David Richer and Cedric Hansen were not playing their best games. Kozikoski’s first start was against Canton, a team Oswego has figured out the past few seasons. The Lakers took a commanding win in the Marano Campus Center as the group defeated Canton 8-2 and was one of the turning points that occurred in the second half of the season. The new netminder would go 5-1-1 in net and win his first playoff game for the Lakers this past Tuesday.
The group secured the second seed in the standings with their success in the second semester and faced Plattsburgh on home ice. The team would defeat their rivals 4-1 and move on to Geneseo. The Lakers season once again would end in Geneseo as the Ice Knights defeated Oswego 4-1 in the SUNYAC finals. This would be the second time Oswego would not be able to get it done in the finals while being held at Geneseo. The Lakers would finish 16-10-1 to end the season as the group looks to rebuild as 13 seniors will move on from the program. Moving forward, Oswego looks to rebuild around players like Alex DiCarlo, Travis Broughman, and Steven Kozikoski heading into these next few years as these three players are all underclassmen.
