OSWEGO, NY — This past Sunday, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) COVID-19 task force met once again to create a plan for the return of fall interscholastic athletics. The group has been reading over documents from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) which has guidance and recommendations on this ever-changing situation, created by the COVID-19 pandemic. This group has met five times so far and plans to release a comprehensive document containing information for schools across the state, which will be released this Friday, September 4th.
The newest news to come from the NYSPHSAA is the change to push the start date of the winter sports season from November 16th to November 30th. The association did this to allot time to schools and sections to complete this condensed fall athletic season. Currently, only low risk to moderate risk fall sports will be allowed to compete against other schools in their section. Football and Volleyball will be allowed to practice but cannot play due to the sports being categorized as both high risk sports. WTOP 10 will continue to update readers on the developing story as teams can begin practices on September 21st.
NYSPHSAA Press Release: http://www.nysphsaa.org/News-Media/Headline-News/Article/id/8643
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Lakers Show Out in Oswego Volleyball Classic
Oswego, N.Y. – The Oswego State volleyball team welcomed a slew of squads to the Max Ziel gymnasium on Friday as the Oswego State Invitational kicked off, with the Lakers taking on the Brockport Golden Eagles in the first contest of the day at 2 p.m.
The Lakers controlled the tempo from the outset, as an offensive onslaught from the home squad led to an early 10-4 lead. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, errors loomed large, and they struggled to find a semblance of footing. The Lakers operated off of beneficiaries Grace Gdovin, Priscilla McReynolds and Kalley Vugteveen and others, to help lift the squad to a 25-14 win in the first set.
The second set was far tighter than the first, with ties and lead changes occurring amidst a competitive bout. The Golden Eagles found an edge when they went up 18-13, but the Lakers would not go down without a fight. They climbed all the way back, and the contest was eventually knotted up at 23, but late-stage heroics from Gigi Basile and Vugteveen pushed the Lakers over the hump as they took the second set, 25-23, to go up 2-0.
The third set replicated what happened in much of the second, with both squads matching up evenly. The Golden Eagles fought tooth and nail, and while they were able to generate momentum, errors once again proved to be more than costly. Moreover, the Lakers applied an aggressive offensive attack that was fueled by high-IQ plays, which led them to a 22-18 lead, and eventually a 25-21 win, thanks to Alaina Dudzinski and Gdovin coming through as clutch. The Lakers laid claim to their first victory of the day, and would hand the court to Western Connecticut and Keuka, as the two faced off at 4 p.m.
The sophisticated offensive schemes of Western Connecticut overpowered Keuka, as one of the constitution state’s own came out on top, 3-0. They held a height advantage, which allowed them to meet their opponents at the net and deny potential chances at scoring. That was one of many deciding factors in their dominant 25-10 win in set one, and the momentum wouldn’t slow down in the next.
While Keuka came out more competitive in the second set when they jumped out to a 5-4 lead, Western Connecticut remained undeterred. They tacked on five unanswered points amid a communication struggle within the confines of Keuka, and would eventually pull away while working in a tighter defense to take the set 25-15, and go up 2-0. The third and final set saw Western Connecticut return to their roots, as they took a 5-1 lead early on. Keuka made a late push that cut the deficit to just one, but an unfortunate overshot called out-of-bounds came as the game-clinching point for Western Connecticut, and they took the set 26-24 to claim a sweep.
The Wolves’ would return to the hardwood at 6 p.m., but their night would soon be spoiled, as the home-squad Lakers swiftly took them down, 3-0. Even with the sweep, each set balanced a competitive feel, with Keuka refusing to go down easily. The first saw the two tie 11 separate times, but the Lakers pulled away in the late stages when the Wolves committed an error, followed by a killshot from Priscilla McReynolds, which would give a first-set statement victory to the Lakers.
Keuka committed a strong playstyle in the second set, which assisted them in going up 14-11 early. However, the Lakers would quickly storm back, as both Vugteveen and Kalley put forth kills, succeeded by two-straight service aces from Gabriella Bishop. The outing remained even from there, with both teams trading conversions past the net. Thankfully for the Lakers, their top beneficiary in McReynolds came through swinging for a kill to make it 25-24, which was followed up with an unfortunate error from the opposition, which would give the Lakers the game-clinching point, for them to go up 2-0.
The momentum saw a drastic shift towards the Lakers in the final set, as they would double down on a tyrannical offensive attack that had the Wolves running around on eggshells. A victory would be returned to the shorelines of Lake Ontario, as a commanding performance helped the Lakers to come out as victors, 25-14, and end the night with a record of 2-0.
The day concluded with a scrappy battle between Pitt-Bradford and SUNY Canton on court one, with the Panthers coming out as victors, 3-1. While the Kangaroos took the first set, 25-23, the Panthers roared back and completely dominated in the second, highlighted by a commanding performance from Ruby Smith that helped her squad tie it up at one. From there it was all Panthers, as they came through strongly with schemes that were tough to match up against. They took the third and fourth sets, 25-20, and 25-21, to finish out day one of the event.
The competition opens back up tomorrow, when the Lakers take on the Wolves of Western Connecticut at 10 a.m., followed by a plethora of matches that conclude the annual Oswego State Invite.
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Women’s basketball split weekend matchups
OSWEGO, NY- The Lakers ended up splitting their games this weekend as they won on Friday against Plattsburgh but lost on Saturday to Potsdam.The Lakers started off the weekend with an impressive performance against the Plattsburgh Cardinals winning 53-48. The Lakers would lead 12-7 halfway through the first quarter with Sydney Hoefs scoring five points in the first quarter. The second quarter saw the score tied three times with the Lakers leading 33-28 at the half. Chastin Giles would have nine second quarter points. She would lead the Lakers at the half with 11 points. Oswego would go 63.64% in the second quarter and went 66% from the three-point line.
The second half saw the Lakers extend their lead to 40-28 early in the third quarter. The Cardinals would rally at the end of the third to only trail by seven. The Lakers struggled from the field in the third quarter as they were only 26.67% from the field in the quarter. The Lakers would extend their lead to ten early in the fourth as Sydney Hoefs connected on her second three-pointer of the game to give the Lakers a 45-35. A late rally by the Cardinals would fail as the Lakers would hold off Plattsburgh. Hoefs would lead the Lakers on the day with 15 points a season-high for her and Chastin Giles would post a season best 13 points in the game.
The Lakers would then take on the Potsdam Bears on Saturday but would lose 64-33. The Lakers would trail early 4-0 and would trail 19-14 at the end of the first quarter. Sydney Hoefs would lead the Lakers at the end of the first quarter with five points. The Lakers had immense struggles from the field only shooting 28.57% in both the first and second quarter. Potsdam fared from much better from the field shooting 42.86%. Giavanna Principio-White would lead the Lakers at the half with six points. The Bears would lead the Lakers 31-19 at the half.
The second half was a continuation of the first half with more struggles for the Lakers. The Lakers would only shoot 11.11% from the field, their worst shooting % from the field in a quarter this season since their game against Geneseo only January 24th only managing to shoot 13.33%. Oswego managed to only score three points in the third quarter while allowing Potsdam to score 16 more points as the Bears lead by a huge margin 47-22 at the end of the third. The fourth quarter began with Principio-White connecting on a three-pointer but the Lakers still trailed 47-25. Oswego would lose 64-33 to Potsdam which was their eighth straight loss to the Bears and their worst loss to them since they first faced off in 1971.
The Lakers will host the New Paltz Hawks on Friday, February 3rd at the Max Ziel Gymnasium at 5:30. The Lakers face a Hawks squad who have won 12 games in a row this season and are on of the top two teams SUNYAC . The Lakers will look to end a ten-game losing streak to the Hawks. New Paltz beat Oswego 74-47 this season back on January 21st.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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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)
