If there is one thing that the Oswego State women’s soccer team learned today, it was that persistence paid off in their big win against the Alfred University Saxons.

That persistence and resiliency the Lakers showed paid off at the 74:22 mark of the second half when Emma Geyer finally put the Lakers on the board to take a 1-0 lead. Roughly 14  minutes later, the Lakers made it 2-0 after Audrey Burbidge slipped one through the defense to Katie Schulz.

Prior to that, Sammy Jo Shanahan, the Alfred goalkeeper, stood on her head for the Saxons stopping 11 Oswego State shots on goal. You could tell that a sense of relief was lifted from the team once that goal was scored. Which is something head coach Brian McGrane talked about jokingly after the game

“Were you relieved?” McGrane said.

The Lakers knew pregame that if they let the Saxons stick around, they could be in some trouble when the latter portion of the game rolled around.

“I told my team in the beginning of the game that these are the types of games coaches hate,” McGrane said. “Because on paper you should be better, but the longer you keep teams in it the harder it is to break through.”

The sense of relief throughout the roster came from chance after chance that just wouldn’t go for the Lakers.

“Their goalie [Shanahan] stood on her head today,” McGrane said. “I was just really relieved that we were able to break through.”

With all this relief when the Lakers finally scored, you could sense before the goal occurred that they were frustrated. The Lakers dominated the possession for a vast majority of the game and were constantly attacking Alfred inside their own end.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s not because of a lack of effort – their goalie was on fire today,” McGrane said. “We had some chances where I just thought we shot the ball too early. I told them at halftime you’re not going to beat this girl from 30 yards out. You just got to shoot inside the 18 and pick corners.”

There is no questioning that a win like this took a complete team effort from the Lakers, but in any big win there are certain players that make or break the game. The back four certainly did their part in the win.

“It’s hard to play a team that kicks long balls and plays direct right at you,” McGrane said. “I thought our back four did a good job taking space away and shutting Alfred down.”

With a perfect as a game that a team could play, the Lakers would be hard pressed to say that there aren’t any tweaks that need to be made as they progress through their schedule.

“Every game presents a different adjustment,” McGrane said. “So if we just played the way we did tonight in future games I think we’ll be okay.”