OSWEGO, NY — After many athletic conferences across the United States begin to cancel or postpone the Fall 2020 season due to COVID-19, the SUNYAC Conference announced on Monday, July 20th, the cancellation of the fall season for member institutions. This decision was made by the SUNYAC Presidents in conjunction with the SUNYAC Board of Directors. This comes after the Empire 8, a local New York Division III conference, announced the postponement of the Fall 2020 season on July 16th. The SUNYAC has decided to cancel all competition till January 2021, which includes winter sports. The report, found on the conference website, states that teams can continue small team workouts when school is back in session. There are still questions regarding the winter sports season that has been pushed off, but time will tell what changes will be made moving forward.
Of course, this will affect Oswego State Athletics for the time being, as most of the teams are a part of that conference. WTOP 10 will continue to have updates on the situation as students return to college around the end of August.
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Women’s Lax Achieves 12-Win Season For the First Time in Seven Years
OSWEGO, NY- The women’s lacrosse team had a successful weekend as they won both games including achieving their highest win total in a long time.In the Lakers first game, they defeated the Buffalo State Bengals on the road 16-10. It only took the Lakers 24 seconds to score as Shae McConnell got the Lakers on the board first. Two minutes later Julia Quirk scored for the Lakers to make it 2-0 with the Lakers scoring two goals within the first 3:23 seconds of the game. The Bengals would finally get on the board as Vanessa Willick would score two goals within 1:14 seconds to cut the Bengals lead to two with Oswego leading 4-2. Julia Quirk and Shae McConnell would add two more goals to make the score 6-2 at the end of the first quarter. Sarah Fineour would score two goals to open the second quarter for the Bengals to cut the Lakers lead to two at 6-4. Isabella Lembo would score to make the score 7-4 and the Lakers would add two more goals towards the end of the second quarter to make the halftime score 9-5. Shae McConnell would lead the Lakers at half with three goals.
The Bengals would rally off three straight goals within the first 2:09 seconds of the opening of the third quarter to rally back down 9-8 to put the Lakers on the edge of their seats. The Lakers would go on a 5-0 run to end the third quarter as Julia Quirk would score two goals in the quarter. The Lakers would lead 14-8 at the end of the third quarter. Quirk would have four goals entering the fourth quarter. Seven minutes went by without both teams scoring until Julia Quirk scored with 8:14 left to give the Lakers a 15-8 lead. Buffalo State would answer back to make it a nine-point game as Sarah Fineour would score her third goal of the game to cut the Lakers lead to six. Julia Quirk would seal the deal for the Lakers with 6:58 remaining to make the score 16-8. Quirk would lead the Lakers on the day with a career-high six goals. Buffalo State would score late but the Lakers would win 16-10. The Lakers improve to 11-3 which ties their best record since the 2019 lacrosse season.
The Lakers were able to carry their momentum from their last game into their game against the Oneonta Red Dragons. The Lakers managed to win 16-13. Isabella Lembo and Sela Wiley got things going for the Lakers early with two goals within the first 1:56 seconds of the game. Three minutes later Isabella Lembo would score back-to-back goals for the Lakers to put them up 4-0 with 9:27 remaining in the first quarter. The Red Dragons would respond immediately after as Mason Benevuto scored the first goal of the game for the Red Dragons to make it a 4-1 game. Julia Quirk and Sela Wiley would score two goals at the end of the first quarter to give the Lakers a 6-1 lead. Shae McConnell increased the Lakers lead to six with 11:38 remaining. The Red Dragons would go on a 3-0 run in 4:02 seconds with the Red Dragons scoring with 2:20 seconds left in the first half to cut the Lakers lead to four at 9-5. Madison Davis would score with 20 seconds left in the half to give the Lakers a 10-5 lead at halftime. Isabella Lembo would lead the Lakers with three goals for the first half.
Sela Wiley got things started for the Lakers scoring just 55 seconds into the second half. Isabella Lembo would then score three consecutive goals in a row as she would still lead the Lakers on the day with six goals as the Lakers would lead 14-5 with 7:42 left in the third quarter. The Red Dragons would then score two goals as Lindsay Townes and Marissa Evans would cut the Lakers lead to seven. Katie Fierro would increase the Lakers lead to eight with 2:08 remaining in the third. Cassidy Moore and Olivia McCabe would then add two goals at the end of the third quarter to put the Red Dragons down 15-9. The Red Dragons would then score 56 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 15-11. Isabella Lembo would score the final goal of the game for the Lakers as she would add her seventh goal of the game. The Red Dragons would then go on a 3-0 run towards the end of the fourth quarter as Cassidy Moore would score twice and Lauren Mancini scoring once during that run. The Lakers would take care of the Red Dragons 16-13 as Oneonta would fall to 5-9 on the season.
The Lakers win game number 12 of the season which is their highest win total since 2016 where they finished 12-4. Their next win would be their most wins in a season in their program’s history. The Lakers now face their toughest challenge of the season traveling to Cortland on Wednesday, April 26th to take on the Red Dragons who sit a first in the SUNYAC after beating Geneseo on Saturday 14-8. The Lakers will look to pull off a major upset in the SUNYAC along with getting their first ever win against Cortland all-time in their programs history as they stand 0-32 against the Red Dragons all-time. Last season, the Lakers lost 17-4 to Cortland and have been outscored by the Red Dragons all-time by a score of 172-527. The Lakers at the moment stand as the third seed in the SUNYAC standings as they will likely face off against the Red Dragons once again in the SUNYAC Playoffs Round One at home but this is still TBD at the moment.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ERIN BLANK, WTOP-10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Oswego women’s lacrosse takes care of business against Buff State
BUFFALO, N.Y. – It was a dominant victory for the Lakers yesterday as the handled Buff State with ease. The “core four” was in full effect and back on track as all four had great performances. Leading the charge this game was Madison Davis with an impressive five goals on the day with two assists, making her the lead scorer. Right behind Davis was the star of the show Sela Wiley with four goals and three assists. Julia Quirk also put on a clinic with three goals and contributed to this dominant victory. This contest was pretty much put away after the first quarter as the Lakers put up ten goals in comparison to Buff States two goals. The Bengals stepped up their defense for the rest of the contest as the first quarter was by far the most dominant for the Lakers. Despite Buff States efforts to bounce back they were no match for this Lakers team as the final score was 18-7. The Lakers look to keep this momentum going as they return to Laker Turf Stadium to take on SUNY Cortland this Friday at 4pm. Catch it live on WTOP 10!
Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics
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Oswego State men’s hockey blanks Morrisville to earn fourth shutout of season
MORRISVILLE, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s hockey team defeated Morrisville State 4-0 on Wednesday. This victory marks the 11th SUNYAC win for the Lakers and second win over the Mustangs in the 2021-22 season.
It was a back-and-fourth, scrappy first period that saw neither team find the back of the net. However, Oswego’s defense was stifling from the opening puck drop as they held Morrisville to just three shots in the first stanza compared to the Lakers 15. The Lakers remained relentless on the offensive end to start the second period, firing off 10 shots in the frame’s first nine minutes. Though, it wasn’t until the 13:17 mark where sophomore Connor Sleeth got things rolling for Oswego, scoring his sixth goal on the year. Ryan Bunka and Alex DiCarlo were awarded assists on the play. Just four minutes later, captain Travis Broughman put the Lakers up 2-0 as he tallied his eleventh goal of the year. To finish the period, Oswego went on to score another goal with Alex DiCarlo “one-upping” Broughman for his twelfth goal of the season. The team captain would not be upstaged for long however. As the Lakers took command in the final period, Broughman tacked on his second goal of the game, tying DiCarlo at 12 for the team lead. The Oswego defense, lead by senior Steven Kozikoski, played phenomenal all game long. The “Wizard of Koz” raked in 13 saves en route of earning his fourth shutout of the season. The team as a whole dominated the stat sheet, totaling 51 shots, 35 shots on goal and winning 36 faceoffs.
With this win, the Lakers improve to 16-5-1 on the season and currently sit atop the SUNYAC standings with 34 points. With just two regular season games remaining before SUNYAC playoffs begin on Feb. 23, Oswego will look to continue this momentum and finish the season strong. The men’s hockey team concludes the season with a weekend doubleheader against Fredonia on Feb. 18 and Buffalo State on Feb. 19. Puck-drop is set for Friday at 7:00 p.m. in Fredonia.
Image Provided by William Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
