OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team dropped their last game of the regular season on Friday, falling to the Brockport Golden Eagles 13-12. In the Friday night contest which saw the Oswego faithful pack the bleachers of Laker Turf Stadium, Brockport would go on to defeat the home team in heartbreaking fashion — scoring the game-winning goal with 34 seconds remaining in regulation.

Oswego was in a “win-and-you’re-in” scenario in regards to making the SUNYAC playoffs. Knowing this, the Lakers opened up the scoring early with Weston Gray getting his first goal of the game. Though, from there, Brockport went on to score five consecutive goals to make it a 5-1 ballgame at the end of the first quarter. To begin the second quarter, Ryan Eccles set up Gray with a nice feed which allowed him to get his second goal of the evening. Shortly after, Eccles got a goal for himself to cut the Golden Eagles lead to two. Then in a man-up opportunity, Brockport shot one past Aiden Kenyon to stretch their lead back to three goals. This is when the momentum started to shift in the Lakers favor. Spanning from 1:37 in the second quarter to 9:37 in the third, Oswego scored five unanswered goals to take a 8-6 lead. Included in these goals were Gavin Elston from Eccles, Ryan Dumont from Gray, Corey O’Connor from Elston, Max Broadman from Eccles, and Elston from Eccles.

From there, Brockport went on to score the next three goals of the game, capitalizing on several Laker turnovers and a man-up opportunity. Right before the third quarter came to a close, Owen Spearing got loose and shot a zinger past the Brockport goalie for his first goal of the year. This goal made the large Oswego crowd erupt with energy, which carried on throughout the fourth quarter. Both teams went back-and-forth throughout the final fifteen minutes of play. Elston scored once more for his 29th goal of the season, but this was followed up with a Brockport goal just 30 seconds later. At the 8:58 mark, Elston was left wide open and hit paydirt again, making it a 11-10 game in favor of the Lakers. A minute later, Cameron Tallman put another one in for Oswego to give them a two-point lead. The Golden Eagles weren’t going to go away that easy, though. Brockport capitalized on a late defensive rotation and shot one past Kenyon, bringing the deficit to one. Then at the 3:15 mark, Brockport forced a Laker turnover and found the back of the net to tie the game. Over the final three minutes of play, both teams played with a major sense of urgency and it looked like neither team would budge. However, after a Brockport timeout with 42 seconds left, Rocco Santillo beat his man with a quick face dodge and scored the Golden Eagles’ 13th goal of the night. Though, the drama and anticipation wouldn’t end there. After Oswego won the ensuing faceoff, Brockport was called for a cross check which gave the Lakers a much needed man-up opportunity. With 24 seconds left on the clock, Coach Eccles called a timeout and drew up his best play. Coming out of the timeout, Oswego wasn’t able to find a clean look, but somehow found a man right in front of the crease. However, the shot attempt was stuffed at the goal line and as the balled rolled towards the sideline, the clock ran out along with Oswego’s dwindling playoff hopes. Brockport wins 13-12.

On the night in which Oswego celebrated two seniors – Weston Gray and Tyler Scordo – the Lakers were unable to come away with a victory despite having less turnovers (21-25). With this loss, Oswego dropped to 8-6 (3-4 in conference) on the season and will just miss out on the SUNYAC playoffs as they were jumped by SUNY Oneonta. Although Oswego has a better overall record than the Red Dragons, they both finished with the same conference record, with Oneonta holding the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Lakers. As it stands, the #4 seed Oneonta Red Dragons will travel to take on the #1 seed Cortland Red Dragons on May 4. The first round will also see the #3 seed Brockport Golden Eagles face the #2 seed Geneseo Knights.

Despite the abrupt end to the 2022 season, Oswego was much improved this year, finishing with their best record since 2019 and their highest goal output in program history. As the spring season comes to a close, Oswego fans can rest assured knowing the men’s lacrosse program has a bright future ahead.

Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics

OSWEGO, N.Y. — In the first ever meeting between the two programs, the Oswego State men’s lacrosse team defeated New Paltz 18-10 on Friday. With this victory, the Lakers extend their win-streak to seven games, their longest since the 2012 season.

It was another dominant offensive display from the Lakers, one that fans have been accustomed to seeing during this seven-game stretch. Oswego notched one on the board first with Corey O’Connor assisting Max Brodman, giving the home team an early lead. Shortly after, Lakers leading goal scorer Gavin Elston found the back of the net for his first goal of the afternoon. Following the Hawks first goal of the contest, Ryan Eccles set up Elston twice in less than a minute to put Oswego up 4-1. New Paltz would go onto score once more, but throughout the final 3:42 in the opening quarter, the duo of Eccles and Elston continued their stellar performance and put in two more goals. The Lakers went into the second quarter with a 6-2 lead, but O’Connor quickly extended the lead after gaining the opening draw control. Though, over the next seven minutes, New Paltz scored four unanswered goals. Eventually, Eccles found the back of the net for his second goal of the game, but the Hawks would go on to score with 22 seconds remaining in the quarter. Oswego went into halftime leading 8-7.

After being shut out in the third quarter by Potsdam earlier in the week, Oswego completely flipped the script in this game. Elston picked up his 23rd goal of the season off a Brodman assist with 13:31 on the clock. Three minutes later, Eccles got his hat-trick off another Brodman assist. Over the final ten minute of the third quarter, not only did Oswego continue hold New Paltz scoreless, but Brodman, Weston Gray, and Ryan Dumont all scored to make the score 13-7. This run virtually put the game out of reach for the Hawks as they could not go on a run to tie the game after this point. Both team went goal-for-goal to open up the final quarter, with Max Brodman collecting another two goals. He would go on to complete his hat-trick to give the Lakers a 16-9 lead with 6:16 left in regulation. New Paltz went on to score once more, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the large deficit. Oswego closed out the game with Liam Sexton scoring two fancy goals including a beautiful behind-the-back shot. The Lakers went on to win 18-10 and secured their third SUNYAC win of the season.

Not only was this the seventh straight win for the Lakers, it also marked the fifth straight game in which Oswego put up at least 18 points. Oswego was extremely efficient on offense throughout the day as they had a total of 11 player record at least one point. The team was well-rounded in other aspects of the game as well. The Lakers won more faceoffs (16-14), collected more ground balls (34-20), and had less turnovers (15-27). With this win, Oswego is now tied for first place in the SUNYAC with Cortland and Geneseo. The Lakers will have the opportunity to knock off at least one of those teams this week as they take on Geneseo under the lights. Faceoff is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday at Geneseo.

Image Provided by Oswego State Athletics

OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team earned their sixth straight victory on Tuesday, defeating SUNY Potsdam 22-18. In the high scoring contest, Oswego had a total of 10 players record goals with seven of them having multiple.

Oswego got out of the gates early and within a minute of play, Corey O’Connor scored on an unassisted goal after the faceoff win. Potsdam responded with their first goal at the 12:36 mark and followed that up with another two goals just three minutes later. The Ryan-to-Ryan connection was on display once again as Ryan Eccles set up Ryan Dumont for a goal, bringing the deficit to within one. Shortly after, Gavin Elston picked up his 19th goal of the season to tie the game. From this point forward, the Lakers would begin to blow things open as they went on a six-goal scoring run to close the quarter up 9-3. 28 seconds into the second quarter, O’Connor found the back of the net for another Laker goal. A minute later, Max Brodman scored his fifth goal of the season to extend the lead to 11-3. Elston went on to score once more before Potsdam responded with a goal to make the score 12-4. After some back-and-forth scoring runs by both teams, the Lakers went into halftime leading 17-7.

Potsdam started to creep back into the game throughout the third quarter. After a tremendous defensive performance, the Bears held Oswego scoreless throughout the frame, halting their otherwise impressive scoring run. Potsdam put in five unanswered goals to bring the game to 17-12 heading into the final 15 minutes. Just 45 seconds into the quarter, Potsdam extended their scoring run. Though, Tyler Stevenson got the Lakers back on the board to push their lead to 18-13. Much like Gavin Elston did earlier in the contest, Weston Gray tallied his 19th goal of the year to make it 19-13. Both teams continued to put points up on the board with Oswego leading 21-17 with two minutes remaining in regulation. Over the final few runs, Eccles scored the dagger for the Lakers 22nd goal of the game. Potsdam scored another goal, but Oswego held strong defensively and went on to win 22-18.

The Lakers were dominant in the faceoff and ground ball battles, winning them 33-8 and 44-26 respectively. Though, Oswego were prone to mistakes throughout the ballgame as they totaled 23 turnovers. Coach Eccles’ offense was explosive once again as he saw Corey O’Connor (4), Liam Sexton (4), and Gavin Elston (3) all have hat-tricks. Although the team made some mistakes, they were able to come away with a hard-fought victory against a tough Potsdam squad. Oswego will have the opportunity to extend their win streak to seven as the take on New Paltz on Saturday for the first time in program history. Faceoff is set for 3:00 p.m. at Laker Turf Stadium.

Image Provided By Will Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department

OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team defeated Utica 18-8 on Wednesday, earning their fourth straight victory. This also marks the Lakers second-straight game with a double-digit margin-of-victory.

Oswego started the game off strong, going up 1-0 off a Weston Gray goal with 11:52 remaining in the opening quarter. Just two minutes later, sophomore Ryan Eccles scored his first of many goals throughout the contest to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead. After some back-and-forth runs, Gray scored two consecutive goals, earning a hat-trick less than 10 minutes into the game. Utica responded with their first goal at the 4:52 mark, but quarter ended with the Lakers up 5-1 after Gavin Elson found the back of the net. Oswego’s scoring onslaught wouldn’t stop there, however, as the Lakers netted nine unanswered goals over the next 20 minutes of regulation. During that stretch, Eccles, Gray, and Elston continued to explode offensively along with Ryan Dumont who got on the board at the 11:23 mark of the third quarter. Oswego went up 14-1 at one point before the Pioneers responded, scoring on back-to-back opportunities. However, the Lakers kept their foot on the gas as they netted another three goals to take a 14-point lead, their largest of the game. Utica won the fourth quarter, outscoring Oswego 5-1, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome the big deficit. The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team won 18-8 and improved their record to 5-2 on the season.

Oswego had a total of seven players score against Utica, including five-goal performances from Weston Gray and Ryan Eccles and a four-goal outing from Gavin Elston. Although, their offensive efficiency came as a direct result of great ball movement. The Lakers had three player total multiple assists including Corey O’Connor (4), Liam Sexton (4), and Max Brodman (3). Oswego State played tremendous defense too as they caused 31 turnovers and held Utica to just 26 shots. Following this victory, Oswego is now tied for first place in the SUNYAC with SUNY Brockport. With SUNY Potsdam coming to town on Sunday, the Lakers will look to extend their win streak to five, which would match their longest win streak since 2018. Faceoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at Laker Turf Stadium.

Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics Department

ONEONTA, N.Y.  — The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team kicked off the 2022 season on the road, falling to Hartwick College 9-6 on Tuesday. Although it was a tough way to begin the new campaign, Oswego saw great production from the team and had five total goal-scorers on the day.

The game started off relatively slow with Hartwick scoring the only first quarter goal just over five minutes in. However, the second quarter saw both the Lakers and Hawks heat up offensively. Hartwick a flurry of goals to begin the second frame, bringing their lead to 3-0 with 12:10 remaining in the first half. It wasn’t until the 8:08 mark where Oswego capitalized on a Hawks turnover and turned it into a Rob Nelson goal. Not even a minute later, Hartwick brought their lead back up to three on a fast break shot that found the back of the net. Later in the quarter, the Hawks were called for a slashing penalty which put the Lakers in a man-up situation that they cashed in on. Senior Weston Gray found Gavin Elston as he shot one past the Hartwick goalie, bring the score to 4-2. Although this provided a burst of momentum for Oswego, Hartwick remained relentless before the half. The Hawks snuck in another goal before the end of the second quarter and brought the lead to 5-2 heading into the intermission.

To begin the second half, Oswego was flagged for a cross-check, giving Hartwick an extra-man opportunity early in the third quarter. A sixth Hawks goal followed the penalty, giving the home team a four-point lead. After some back-and-forth play throughout the next ten minutes, Hartwick laid in another goal which brought the score to 7-2. Though before the third quarter ended, Ryan Dumont scored his first goal of the season, assisted by Weston Gray. Heading into the final quarter, Oswego needed a few scoring runs to keep pace with Hartwick. Devon Gerhardt got things started for the Lakers at the 11:45 mark as he found the net for his first goal on the year. Just four minutes later, Gavin Elston put in his second goal of the contest, bringing the deficit to two. However, that would be as close as the score got from there on out. Hartwick put in two more goals over the final seven minutes of regulation before Cameron Tallman scored the final Oswego goal with 30 seconds remaining.

Although the Lakers have now started the 2022 season off 0-1, Oswego saw great production offensive and defensively that they can build off of. Under new interim head coach Sean Eccles, the Lakers saw seven players record at least one point in the contest. Goalkeeper Aiden Kenyon also gathered in 15 saves in his first start for Oswego. The men’s lacrosse team will have the opportunity to rebound on Saturday, Mar. 5 as they take on SUNY Polytechnic. Face-off is set for 1:00 p.m. at Utica.

Image Provided By Oswego State Athletics Department