The Oswego state men’s lacrosse team found themselves back in the winning groove, securing two convincing wins in three days.

The Lakers defeated Elmira College, 20-11, on April 14 at home and were victorious on April 16, Oswego State’s Senior Day, after defeating SUNY Canton 21-6 at the South Athletic Field near Laker Hall.

The Lakers were firing on all cylinders right out of the gate against Elmira on Monday. Junior Matt Palmer opened the scoring with his 13th goal of the season just 42 seconds into the game. Junior Cody Hoose netted his first of two goals in the game at the 12:32 mark of the first quarter. Sophomore Jimmy Cordon and junior Nick Giampaolo each scored after Oswego State’s second goal, making the score 4-0 halfway through the first.

Just seven seconds after the Lakers went up by four, Elmira got on the board with a goal from Jackson Correia. Oswego State and Elmira each traded one more goal, coming a minute apart, to end the quarter with a 5-2 score in favor of the Lakers.

Oswego State got off to a quick start at the beginning of the second quarter when Giampaolo’s second of three goals on the night beat Elmira goalie Wyatt Katsos just 17 seconds into the frame. The Lakers added four more goals before the Soaring Eagles scored again. Palmer added his second goal of the game, while Cordon and D.J. Sellick each scored their first goals of the contest. Giampaolo added his third goal of the game, Oswego State’s tenth, midway through the second quarter.

Elmira’s Brady Richards scored the next two goals of the game, completing his hat trick, at 7:51 and 5:40 of the second quarter. However, Oswego State answered with three consecutive goals coming from Cordon, Troy Crevier and Mark Niechcial. Cordon’s goal was unassisted and came with just seven seconds remaining in the half and gave the Lakers a 13-4 halftime lead.

The Lakers padded their lead after halftime when Palmer notched his third goal of the game at the 14:10 mark in the third quarter. Oswego State added three more goals a span of 1:47 to increase their lead to 13 with a score of 17-4. Elmira added one goal in the third period before Crevier capped off the quarters scoring just 6 seconds later to end the quarter with an 18-5 score in Oswego State’s favor.

The Soaring Eagles found a groove early in the fourth quarter with four goals early in the period. Brady Richards added two goals for Elmira, raising his game total to five. Oswego State’s Connor Khammar and Cordon each scored in the final frame to cap off the Lakers’ scoring on the afternoon, giving the home team a 20-11 victory.

Freshman goalie Wyatt Russo split time in the net with senior Bryan Martin, whose playing time has been limited due to injuries this season.

Russo ended the game with five saves and four goals against while Martin ended with a .5000 save percentage after surrendering seven goals and recording seven saves. Giampaolo, Cordon and Palmer each recorded a hat trick in the victory.

The Lakers’ second game of the week was played on Wednesday, Oswego State’s senior night. The Lakers came out flying against SUNY Canton, building an 11-goal lead within the first two quarters of action, including six goals in a dominant first quarter.

Cordon scored Oswego State’s first goal of the game at the 10:44 mark of the opening quarter. Sellick and Hoose added the Lakers’ next two goals just six seconds apart, with Sellick scoring at the 9:34 mark and Hoose beating Kangaroo goaltender Dylan Dix at the 9:28 mark. Senior Chris Porten celebrated senior day by adding a goal at the 4:09 mark of the quarter. Palmer scored the Lakers’ next goal and Hoose netted his second of the game with just three seconds remaining to give Oswego State a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Lakers continued to beat Dix and put the ball in the net in the following quarter, adding seven goals to bring their halftime total to 13.

Giampaolo netted his first of four goals at the 13:25 mark of the second. Cordon and Crevier scored seven seconds apart at the 12:40 and 12:33 mark of the quarter, respectively.

Torry Whitcher capped off the Lakers’ run of 11 consecutive goals when he added his 16th score of the season coming at the 6:24 mark of the quarter.

Canton was finally able to get on the board at 5:36 of the second quarter. The Lakers and the Kangaroos then traded goals to give the home team a 13-2 lead with just 3:27 remaining in the half.

However, Canton rallied for three consecutive goals to bring the halftime score to 13-5 in favor of Oswego State. Tanner Pratt notched a hat trick in the second quarter, scoring three of the Kangaroos’ goals in the final five minutes of the half.

Six Oswego State seniors were honored in a halftime ceremony, which took place on the field. Martin, Porten, Brian Murphy, Tyler Calkin, Billy Scala and Matt Festa were called to midfield to meet friends and family. Each player honored their parents in return with a bouquet of flowers.

The Lakers continued their offensive outburst to start the second half, but it was the defense that set the tone for the rest of the game, as Oswego State shutout Canton in the third quarter. The Laker offense netted three more goals in the quarter to build the lead to 16-5 heading into the fourth.

The highlight of the period, and of the game, was Calkin’s impressive goal from the crease after a beautiful feed from Jordan Michele. The goal was Calkin’s lone tally in his Senior Day contest.

Canton added its final goal of the game at the 12-minute mark of the fourth quarter before Oswego State added five more tallies to finish off its opponent. Giampaolo was able to record his fourth goal of the game off an assist from Calkin at the 7:53 of the final quarter.

Martin started the game between the pipes and played three out of the four quarters, recording four saves and allowing just five goals.

The fourth quarter was split by goalies Troy Calkin and Kyle Wright. Calkin did not allow a goal or record any saves during his 6:06 stint in net, but Wright made one save and surrendered one goal in his 12-plus minutes of action.

Giampaolo ended the contest with 5 points — four goals and one assist – to pace the Laker offense, which tallied 21 goals in the convincing victory.

The Lakers will end the season with three consecutive SUNYAC contests, two of which will be on the road.

Oswego State is still looking for its first conference win, as the Lakers have gone 0-3 in conference play despite having a 6-6 record on the season.

Oswego State’s next game is at SUNY Geneseo on April 19. The Lakers’ last home game of the season will take place on April 23 when they host SUNY Potsdam. Oswego State will end its season on April 26 at SUNY Oneonta.

The Lakers, despite boasting the fourth best overall record in the conference, are in last place in the SUNYAC due to a 0-3 record against conference opponents.

However, the team is still hopeful it can make a push to clinch a spot in the SUNYAC playoffs.