OSWEGO, NY — Women’s Hockey played their first conference match up in over a month this past Wednesday. The Lakers lost 3-1 to the #1 Plattsburgh Cardinals that featured Oswego goalie Rachael Farmer saving 34 shots as she finished with a .906 save percentage. Oswego would get on the board first as freshman Megan Teachout tallied her seventh goal of the season, who is the current points leader for the Lakers. The Cardinals would answer just 32 seconds later to tie Oswego heading into the 2nd period. Plattsburgh would add another goal in the second, and a powerplay goal in the 3rd to surpass the Lakers and stay undefeated in NEWHL game play.
The Lakers still sit in second place in the conference standings directly in front of their next opponent the Cortland Red Dragons. Cortland remains 4 points behind Oswego with two games at hand. So far this season, these two teams have ended in a tie along with Oswego beating Cortland 3-2 on December 4th. Oswego will head to Cortland next Wednesday for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
-
SUNYAC announces return of Spring Sports
OSWEGO, NY — Tuesday afternoon, SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras announced that the SUNYAC conference will be returning on March 20th with spring sports. The sports of baseball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s outdoor track & field will all return as all of their seasons were cancelled last year when the COVID-19 pandemic begun.
The conference will be split into east and west divisions to limit travel and cost expenditures. The divisions will be based on geographic location with Interstate-81 being used to split New York state in two. For the sports of Women’s lacrosse and softball, two five team divisions will be used. Since Fredonia and Buffalo State do not sponsor men’s lacrosse programs, Cortland will compete in the west division and there will only be four teams per division. Lastly, women’s tennis will be without Buffalo State and Potsdam due to their lack of teams.
The other details that were announced yesterday regarding this decision revolve around logistical aspects of this season. Masks will be warn at all time except during the heat of the competition. No spectators will be allowed to watch games in person due to current New York State Department of Health guidelines. There will be regular weekly testing through each campus for athletes and team officials. Along with that, athletes will be tested three days prior to road trips. On those trips, no eating will be allowed on the buses and capacity must be reduced to 50 percent. During the game, there should be no handshakes and group celebrations.
SUNYAC Commissioner Tom DiCamillo stated that there will be more guidelines announced later along with schedules for every team and school. As of right now, the season will be opened with two women’s lacrosse match ups as Cortland plays Plattsburgh and Potsdam travels to Oneonta. WTOP 10 will continue to deliver news regarding SUNYAC spring sports in the future.
-
Lakers Basketball defeats Cortland in close battle
OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball came away with another SUNYAC victory Saturday night against the Cortland Red Dragons. The Lakers would win 68-66, thanks to Jeremiah Sparks would lead the offense with 31 points. He had a career-high 11 made field goals during the contest. Oswego secured the lead in the first half and kept the Red Dragons out of the lead as Cortland missed a 3 pointer in the dying seconds to drop the game and fall to 3-3 in conference play. The win continues to keep the Lakers in the hunt for the top spot in the SUNYAC standings.
The Lakers are back in action Tuesday night following the Women’s Basketball game. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego welcomes in Oneonta, who is currently right behind the Lakers in the standings but has the same conference record of 5-1. This will be an important game for the Lakers as they fight for the top spot in the SUNYAC.
-
Men’s basketball captures big milestone in route to winning tip off tournament
WILLIMANTIC, CT. – The Oswego state men’s basketball team has continued their success from last year with a big tournament win this past weekend The Lakers traveled to Eastern Connecticut for the Tip-Off Tournament on Friday where they first faced the Hobart statesman. Oswego started the game by establishing a 6 point lead late in the first half of play with the help of their solid defensive performance. Hobart would then go on a run and erase the lead, eventually getting a three point lead of their own with 2:42 in the first half. Oswego was not be able to erase the deficit in a very low scoring half and allowed Hobart to hold a 30-25 lead going into halftime.
Oswego would come out alot stronger in the second half and put on an impressive offensive performance. The Lakers would erase a nine-point second half deficit and turn it into a their highest lead of the game by 16 points,. The Lakers ended up winning 65-53 to win game one of their weekend. Oswego would shoot 50% from the field in the second half, converting 17 of 34 field goal attempts and shot 40% from 3pt range, hitting 6 of 15 3-pt field goal attempts. Ahkee Anderson lead the way for the Lakers by scoring 15 points and overall shooting 50% from the field. Jeremiah Sparks led the team in rebounds with 8 and brought the Lakers to the championship Saturday.
The Lakers team faced Eastern Connecticut State Warriors in a back and forth matchup for the championship game of the Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Oswego would come out on fire in the first half shooting lights out with an outstanding 46.4% (13/28) on field goal attempts. But the Lakers couldn’t get the 3pt shots to fall shooting only 20% (2/10) from beyond the arc. The Lakers played some tough defense on the Warriors holding them to only 28.6% on their field goal attempts in the first. Oswego then established a 16 point lead late in the first. However, the Warriors would rally and end the half on a 11-0 run, hitting three consecutive 3-pt shots. Oswego went into halftime leading 32-27 going into halftime. Jamal Achille led the Lakers with 9 points in the first half. New Laker Cartier Bowman lead Oswego on the glass with 7 rebounds and Devin Green and Ahkee Anderson would each add 2 assists going on half.
The Warriors defense in the second half would give them the advantage in the half, causing many Oswego turnovers to start. Oswego would then go ahead and build another double-digit lead early in the half, and the Warriors would go on another 11 point run to give them a 46-45 lead. Despite their struggles offensively early, Oswego would then hit several clutch free throws late to help push them over the Warriors. Oswego would win the tournament in a 60-50 victory over the Warriors. Ahkee Anderson lead the Lakers with 21 points,3 assists and 2 steals. Jeremiah Sparks recorded his first double-double of the season scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Three Oswego players made the all tournament team with Ahkee Anderson, Jeremiah Sparks and Cartier Bowman making the team. With this win on Saturday, Coach Jason Leone also becomes the winningest coach in Oswego State Basketball History passing Kevin Broderick who coached the Lakers from 1996 until 2009 with a 209-150 record. Leone now stands at the very top of the record book with a 210-78 record in his twelfth year as the Lakers’ Head Men’s Basketball Coach.
IMAGE COURTESY OF OSWEGO ATHLETICS
