Standing at 3-10, the Oswego State men’s soccer team is looking to improve every day.
An early season shoulder injury to the team’s starting goalkeeper, senior Jon Runge, proved pivotal as the Lakers were recently eliminated from 2016 SUNYAC playoff contention.
“It was one of the biggest impacts we had as to how everything has turned out,” said sophomore goalkeeper Evan Bogucki. “[Runge] is our main guy and we depended on him for preseason and things like that. If we had him I feel like it’d be a huge change as far as record, as far as stats, just the overall morale of the team.”
Inclusion to injuries, the team has been hampered by sloppy play, accumulating 10 yellow cards and 167 fouls, both exceeding totals of their opponents. Runge also cites the team’s inability to effectively finish plays as another key in their struggles.
“For the most part we’ve had our bumps in finishing,” Runge said. “We have struggled in the offensive third. We’ve put some good ball together it’s just that we’ve had trouble finishing.” Runge said.
While Oswego State owns a .421 shots on goal percentage, which is better than opponent’s .415, they have allowed 20 more goals against this year than they have produced. As a result, Oswego State has averaged 0.77 goals per game, nearly two goals less than their opponent’s 2.31 average. A reason opponents score so effectively could result from the 86 corner kicks they have received to Oswego State’s 64. These statistics support Runge’s comments about finishing plays.
The team recognizes what they could have done better, but appreciates the opportunities ahead. With several matchups against SUNYAC opponents remaining. The team is looking forward to playing spoiler to their rivals playoff hopes.
“Going forward, our playoff chances are over,” Runge said. “So for the guys that are the underclassmen it’s important for them to start working for the next season in the next couple of games. We definitely don’t want to go out with no wins in the SUNYAC so we’re going to keep working hard to pull some wins out… Right now, we’re looking to end some other teams SUNYAC chances.”
With a healthy Runge returning to the starting lineup, Oswego State will visit the College at Brockport on Oct. 14 and finish their season against SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Cortland, and Morrisville State, respectively.
These games present opportunities to improve various areas of their game, from finishing plays to staying healthy to creating opportunities, especially if they hope to play spoiler and finish the regular season on a high note.
