OSWEGO, NY — Women’s Hockey battled the Morrisville Mustangs Tuesday afternoon in the Marano Campus Center in the first round of the NEWHL playoffs. The Lakers defeated the Mustangs 1-0 and will advance to play Plattsburgh in the finals. Senior Eryn Stewart scored the lone goal for the Lakers as the forward tipped a shot from Philomena Teggart on the power play in the second period. Oswego held on for the remainder of the contest as goaltender Rachel Farmer recorded the shutout as the netminder saved 22 shots.
Oswego now looks ahead to Plattsburgh as the group will go on the road on Saturday to North Country. Plattsburgh, the number one team in the nation, defeated Cortland 3-0 this past weekend. The Lakers are definitely looking for an upset as the two teams will face off at 3 p.m. in the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.
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Softball loses five over hard weekend matchups
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State softball team played six games over four days this weekend. A Friday double header in New Paltz against the Hawks was followed by a Saturday double header in Oneonta with the Red Dragons, the team had a day off Sunday, but played another double header at home against the Plattsburgh Cardinals Monday.
Friday’s first game in New Paltz saw the Hawks grab an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Two two-out singles were followed by a triple, bringing that brought both runners home to open the scoring. In the bottom of the second the Hawks would strike again. A two-out double was followed by a single. A throwing error would bring home the lead runner, and another triple would bring home the other runner. No more runs would be scored until the seventh inning, where the Lakers finally found the score sheet. Two one-out singles were followed by Madison Hoeflich reaching on an error, that would score the first runner of the inning for the Lakers. Ellie Mahoney then grounded out the the Shortstop, but would bring home another run. A Samantha Morgan double brought home the third run of the inning for the Lakers, but the scoring would end there, and Oswego fell 4-3. The Lakers only had four hits on the day, no batter having more than one, and a lone walk. Freshman Maria Lutz pitched all six innings for Oswego, allowing four runs, nine hits, two walks, and striking out two.
Game two of the double header was a more convincing win for New Paltz. The Hawks scored one in the first, but Oswego would match the run the second on a Ellie Mahoney single. Errors in the bottom half of the second brought home two more runs, and a two out double in the third brought home run number four for the Hawks. The bottom of the fourth was started by a single for New Paltz which was followed by a double driving home the run. Oswego got two consecutive pop-outs after, but a single drove home the sixth run. Oswego held New Paltz scoreless in the fifth, but three runs in the sixth triggered the mercy rule, and the game ended 9-1 in favor of the Hawks. Zoe Mennig led the Lakers with two hits, and Madison Hoeflich led the Lakers with two walks. Fiona Higgins had a rough day on the mound. She allowed fifteen hits, nine runs, eight earned, and walked three, she would strike out six.
The Lakers took the two hour trip to Oneonta for the Saturday double header. The Lakers found the scoreboard in the top of the first in game one. Tai Smith led off with a walk, and she was moved to second by a sac bunt. Taylor Dubois hit a double moving Smith to third, and a fielder’s choice in the next at bat scored the run. The Lakers held the Red Dragons scoreless until the third inning, when a lead off triple would be driven in by a sac fly to tie the game. Oneonta scored once more in the fourth inning, and twice more in the fifth. In the sixth, a two out single, then stole second and was driven in by a double. Oswego wouldn’t score in the seventh, and the game ended 5-1 Oneonta. Taylor Dubois led Oswego with two hits. Tai Smith got on base three times, a hit and a team leading two walks. Maria Lutz pitched all six innings once again, allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits and no walks, striking out two.
Game two of the second double header saw Oneonta grab a big lead in the bottom of the first, scoring four. The next run wouldn’t be scored until the top of the third, when Taylor Dubois hit a lead off double and was then drive in by Zoe Mennig’s double in the next at bat. A scoreless fourth was followed by a scoreless top of the fifth, and the Red Dragons broke the scoreless streak in the bottom of the fifth, crossing the plate once. Oneonta grabbed two more in the bottom of the sixth, and the Lakers, trying to rally could only manage one in the top of the seventh, a Zoe Mennig solo shot to left, and the Red Dragons took game two, 7-2. Samantha Morgan led the Lakers, going three for three at the plate. Zoe Mennig drove in both runs for Oswego. Madison Hoeflich got the start for the Lakers, but only pitched one inning, allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits, striking out two. Chelsea Sellars pitched the remaining five innings for Oswego, allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits, and four strike outs.
The Lakers took a much needed day off Sunday, and took to the diamond for two more Monday to take on the Cardinals of Plattsburgh. The Cardinals went 1-2-3 in the top of the first, and the Lakers struck first in the bottom half. The first two batters would get out, then Taylor Dubois and Zoe Mennig would reach on errors. Fiona Higgins drove in both with a double. The second inning was scoreless, and Plattsburgh grabbed their first run in the top of the third on an error. Two more scoreless innings brought the game to the sixth, where the Cardinals struck again. The Lakers committed two errors to start the inning, allowing two runners on base. A single by the next batter loaded the bases, and another single drove in the first run of the inning, second of the game for the Cardinals. A pop out to second got out number one of the inning, and a fly out to center got the second out, but also drove in the runner from third, for the third run of the game and the lead for Plattsburgh. Another single drove in the fourth run, and the walk that followed reloaded the bases. Another single brought home two more, and Plattsburgh got out of the inning with a 6-2 lead. Oswego wouldn’t score after the first, and lost the game. Fiona Higgins led Oswego with two hits and two RBIs. Maria Lutz pitched all seven innings, doing the whole game for the third time over the weekend. She allowed six runs, two earned, do to three errors on the Lakers. Lutz struck out four and walked three during the game
The Lakers finally turned things around in game two of the double header, and the final one of the weekend. The Lakers scored three times in the bottom of the first on hits by Zoe Mennig and Fiona Higgins. Neither team would score until Oswego did in the bottom of the fifth. Fiona Higgins drove in the fourth run for Oswego on a double, and in the next at bat, Madison Hoeflich brought in one more on a single. The Lakers scored two more in the inning on a single and a sacrifice hit, bringing their total to seven in the game. Zoe Mennig brought in one more run in the bottom of the sixth, triggering the mercy rule. Zoe Mennig went 4-4 at the plate, driving in two runs, and scoring two of her own. Fiona Higgins was the star of the day though. She went 2-3 at the plate driving in three runs, and pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six, while only allowing two hits and two walks.
The Lakers get the next three days off, until the play a double header Friday against the Brockport golden eagles at home, game one set to start at 3:00 P.M. They play their final series of the season against Geneseo at home Saturday with a double header. The lakers now sit a 9-22 (4-10 SUNYAC). They are currently eighth in the SUNYAC, two games back of Fredonia in the six seed, the final spot in the SUNYAC playoffs.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse team defeats Fredonia
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State Women’s Lacrosse team won their first SUNYAC game of the 2021 season, defeating SUNY Fredonia 16-10. It wasn’t just the Women’s Lacrosse team’s home opener, but the first Oswego home game in over 395 days. The Lakers defended home field exceptionally well as they lead for a majority of the game and never let the Blue Devils run their offensive systems smoothly.
Fredonia’s Madeline Haney started off strong, scoring the games first goal five minutes into regulation. However, that was the only lead Fredonia would have all game as the Lakers went on to score the next 5 goals, including back-to-back goals from freshman midfielder Shae McConnell. Oswego played tremendous defense all game, especially in the first half, giving up only 3 goals. The Blue Devils were more efficient in the second half, however they weren’t able to generate enough offense to keep up with the Lakers. Sophomore midfielder, Sela Wiley, played phenomenal once again, totaling 5 goals and 2 assists in the Oswego victory. Kamryn Sherman and Shae McConnell each had 4 goals apiece, while Isabella Lembo (2) and Logan Castiglione (1) also scored. Junior goalkeeper, Delaney Kendrick, held the Blue Devil offense in check as she totaled 5 saves and cleared the ball effectively all game. The Oswego Women’s Lacrosse team will have the opportunity to continue their 2021 season undefeated when they take on SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday, April 10th, at 4 PM.
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A Look Ahead: Oswego State women’s hockey prepares for non-conference contest against Utica College
OSWEGO, N.Y. — On Sunday, the Oswego State women’s hockey team will return home to host non-conference opponent Utica College. The Pioneers will travel west down Interstate-90 to take on the Lakers in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The 3:00 p.m. puck drop will feature the Utica College team that currently holds an overall record of 9-2. The team currently is second in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference with an 8-0-0 conference record. On the other side, the Lakers are 6-2-1 heading into the matchup after having four contests cancelled this week due to COVID-19 concerns. Oswego State is also third in the NEWHL conference and has a conference record of 3-2-1.
The Pioneers were supposed to take on number one team in the nation Middlebury College prior to their matchup with Oswego State but the game was postponed most likely due to COVID-19. In terms of the matchup history, the Lakers are 9-15-2 against the Pioneers but Oswego State is currently on a two-game win streak against the non-conference opponent. Their last game was February 8th, 2020 in which the Lakers won 2-1 on the road. While in the national spotlight, the Oswego State Lakers are ranked sixteenth in the pairwise ranking while the Utica College Pioneers are two spots behind them in eighteenth. Faceoffs will be a big part of the contest as both teams head into the contest with a percentage higher than .580. Oswego State forwards Morgan Shines and Rachel Corbett will be essential in the faceoff circles on Sunday. The Lakers offense, led by Ariella Haas and Megan Teachout will need to continue their dominance Sunday afternoon after scoring an average of 3.1 goals a game in the first half of the season.
WTOP 10 will be live on twitch.tv/wtop10tv at 2:45 p.m. prior to puck drop in the Deborah F. Stanley Arena. The student run television station will continue to provide coverage for the Oswego State women’s hockey team as the group continues their 2021-22 season.
Image Provided By Diana Vitale, WTOP 10 Photography Department
