The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team opened the home portion of its schedule with a 21-7 rout of Cazenovia College on Wednesday afternoon at Laker Field. The victory is the Lakers’ third straight after the team lost its first three games.
Oswego State (3-3 overall) led wire-to-wire throughout the cold and snowy affair, as freshman attacker Bobby Horan’s goal off of a pass from junior midfielder Brett Sarubbi just under three minutes into the game gave the Lakers a lead they would not lose for the remainder of the contest.
The Lakers’ offensive charge did not end there, as they would score 10 consecutive goals, a streak that was broken with 8:53 left in the second quarter by Dan Holtzman’s goal which finally put Cazenovia (1-3) on the scoreboard. Oswego State held a 13-2 advantage at halftime.
The offensive dominance continued in the second half for the Lakers, as they outscored the Wildcats 8-5, with five of Oswego State’s goals coming in the fourth quarter. The 21 goals scored by the Lakers was their highest single-game total since April 20, 2004, when Oswego State defeated SUNYIT, 24-0.
First-year head coach Ryan Martin thought his Lakers did a great job battling both Cazenovia and the harsh elements.
"It was a hard-fought game with tough conditions," Martin said. "The snow came in right at the beginning of the game. I thought we were going to escape it, but our guys stepped up. It was a total team effort. A lot of guys did good things."
Sarubbi, freshman attacker Chris Porten and junior captain Andy Lever all contributed a game-high three goals in the winning effort. Junior goalie Ian O’Brien earned the win in net, recording four saves in 15 minutes of play. Four goalies would play for the Lakers in the game, as Tyler Trueman, Tom Gropp and Bryan Martin would all see playing time behind O’Brien. Truemann finished with three saves on eight shot, while Gropp and Martin each allowed one goal on two shots.
Neither team took advantage of the extra-man opportunities, as the Lakers finished 2-for-10 with the extra man and Cazenovia finished 1-for-5
Freshman Jamil Modaffari led the Wildcats with two goals.
Martin thinks winning their last three games was crucial for the Lakers, who will soon be entering conference play.
"We needed a little confidence and now we have some momentum going," Martin said. "We have a week off until our game with Utica at Utica College, and that’s going to be a big game for us."
Oswego State will travel to face off against the Pioneers at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30.
