OSWEGO — Women’s Hockey extends their winning streak to three wins after the group defeated the Cortland Red Dragons Wednesday night in the Marano Campus Center. The 3-2 win featured multiple Lakers getting on the stat sheet which was led by Megan Teachout. The freshman contributed by netting Oswego’s first goal of the night and tallying an assist on Morgan Shines game winning goal in the third period. The Lakers fourth line got the tying goal late in the second period when Aislinn McAleer buried a rebound off a Kate Randazzo shot. Sara Cruise returned to the line up and tallied an assist on the McAleer goal for her first point of the season. Rachael Farmer saved 19 shots and finished with a .905 save percentage in the win. This victory moves the Lakers into second in the NEWHL standings before they head to SUNY Canton on Friday, who’s currently 0-6-1 and last in the conference. The game is set to begin at 4 p.m. in the Roos House.
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Lakers Fly Past Cardinals in SUNYAC Tournament Berth
For the 19th straight season, the Oswego State Lakers have clinched the SUNYAC Tournament and what a better way to do it than on Valentine’s day. The Lakers defeated the Cardinals on Friday night during their six point victory thanks to a combined, 43 point effort from seniors Brandon Gartland and Joe Sullivan.
Plattsburgh kept it close throughout the first half while using their best rendition of ‘Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better’. Each time the Lakers grabbed a bucket on one end, the Cardinals always had an answer. Oswego held the lead by four points or less through the first ten minutes of the contest but three minutes later, with an already shallow selection on the bench, Plattsburgh Head Coach Mike Blaine had some decision making to do following the injury of Forward Jeremy Eisenmen. Eisenmen went down hard after crashing the boards and was clutching his left knee. He was able to put pressure on it but would not return to the game.
In his absence, Matt Bernhard, a 5’10” stud off the bench, executed a perfect first half of shooting off the bench. Aside from his one missed free throw, he shot 3-3 from distance and 4-4 from the field ending with 12 of the Cardinals 34 points at halftime.
Brandon Gartland shot five for eight from behind the arc in the first half, good enough to lead the book with 15 points at the break. Joe Sullivan was a vital part of the first half for the Lakers tallying nine free throw attempts and sinking five of them. Sullivan struggled to find his rhythm early on but that would change going into the second half.
General Joe flipped the switch coming out of the locker room scoring 12 of his 21 in the second frame. Sullivan shot 5-13 in the second half and ended with 8 rebounds and 8 assists to add onto his impressive scoring performance. Coach Leone was happy with his big man’s performance.
“Joe plays hard every night,” Leone said. “He’s a senior and he is doing what we would hope seniors do at this point in their senior season. I’m really pleased with the things he did tonight. He deserves it.”
However, Gartland went in the opposite direction having a rather quiet second half. He scored just seven points adding his total to 22 without a single three pointer in after the break. “They were sticking a little tighter to me,” Gartland expressed. “Other people were making plays and we were still scoring.” For what he lacked on the offensive end, he made up for on the defensive end with four steals and a couple big time stops down the stretch.
Plattsburgh got into some foul trouble five minutes into the second half when Erik Salo was charged with his fourth personal. Now with Eisenmen injured and Salo playing restricted and cautious minutes, the only other options off the bench were Marlon Todd and freshman Lamont Hough Jr. who never saw the floor.
With six to go, the Lakers turned on the after-burners going on an 8-2 run in a minute and 28 seconds taking a 69-61 lead with 4:05 remaining. The Cardinals never came back from this lead, falling short to the Lakers 75-69. It came down to protecting the ball tonight and Plattsburgh was not proficient in that category. Averaging 15 turnovers a game, Coach Blaine’s Cardinals exceeded that margin with 16 and 11 of those turnovers came in the second half.
Coach Jason Leone was excited about clinching the SUNYAC tournament for the ninth time in his nine years as the head coach of Oswego State but recognized that there was still work to do following Friday night. “We’re in the playoffs,” Leone expressed. “So now we are in a battle to try and get a home game. Every game has a significant meaning from here on out.” With Potsdam traveling to Laker hall at 4:00 pm for the second game of the back to back, the Lakers have a win under their belt and look to continue their winning ways after Improving to 16-5 on the year.
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Oswego State Men’s Golf Wraps Up 2021 Season
ELMIRA, N.Y. — The Oswego State Men’s Golf team traveled to Mark Twain Golf Club in Elmira, N.Y. for the one day Elmira College Invitational. The Lakers would claim the second place finish with an overall team score of a +49 and a 337 stroke total. The field consisted of two teams from the host Elmira, two teams from SUNY Delhi, one from Utica College, and the Lakers to wrap up the 6 team pool. The team coming away with the tournament win was SUNY Delhi’s “A Team” with that entire team landing in the top seven scores, however the other two in those top 7 were from the Oswego State Lakers.
Ryan Fecco a junior was tied for the top score with a 75 (+3) on the day to back up his first team all conference performance from the previous weekend at the Empire 8 Golf Championship. Fecco would go into a playoff with Delhi’s Danny Christy and the Laker would get the job done to take the invitational title. The other Laker was sophomore Christopher Sugar, an Oswego High School graduate in 2019. Sugar was able to place in a tie for fourth with a 78 (+6) on the day. As for the rest of the Oswego State squad, Oliver Wolland and Joseph Pacheco III were in a tie for 20th with 92’s (+20) and Joe Marszalek was shortly behind them with a 93 (+21) in the round.
The final standings were, as mentioned SUNY Delhi (A) taking the top spot, followed by the Lakers with their total of 337. The Broncos would have another team in the top three with their “B” team shooting a 339, Elmira College (A) in 4th with a 348 total. Wrapping up the bottom of the standings was Utica at 5th with a 351 and Elmira College (B) with a 449. Although this will wrap up the Lakers condensed season, with two finishes in the top 3 for team score as well as a tournament individual championship, look for them to be eager for a potential Empire 8 championship next season.
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Oswego Buccaneers defeat Ontario Bay in dominating fashion
OSWEGO, NY — The Oswego Buccaneers Boys Hockey team kicked off their 2021 season last Thursday against Skaneateles. The Bucs would fall to the Lakers 7-2 and would return home on Sunday to face off against the Ontario Bay Storm. The Valentines Day matchup featured a team looking to rebound and a group that wanted to get a win in their first contest of the shortened season.
Oswego would start senior netminder Brandon Demling who was pulled in the 2nd period against Skaneateles. The goaltender would be perfect in the contest as the upperclassmen led his team to a 5-0 victory. There was plenty of offense in the game which was lacking on the Buccaneer’s side the previous contest. The Bucs would kick off the scoring off the stick of senior Joe Diblasi. The senior would add another in the 1st period before junior Lukas Cady finished the scoring for Oswego in the first stanza. The team’s offensive presence was felt the rest of the game as Cady added another to his goal total in the second period before his brother Ian Cady scored his first career varsity goal. The freshman was able to put the puck past Bryce Dafoe on a rebound opportunity.
All game, Ontario Bay struggled to get their offense going. The Oswego defensive core lead by captain Adam Michalski did a good job in front of their netminder yesterday. Thomas Back had a big physical presence and managed to stay out of the penalty box throughout the game while the Storm gave Oswego plenty of opportunities on the power play.
The Buccaneers go on the road for their second road game of the season tonight. The team will face the West Genesee Wildcats, a solid team in Division I. Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm and the game will be streamed on YouTube. All home games will be broadcasted of the WNYO airwaves which can be found on 88.9 FM or wnyo889.org.
