The  Oswego State women’s lacrosse team sits at 3-1 in SUNYAC play, the team’s best start in the conference since the 2005 season.

The Lakers, led by first-year head coach Britt Howard, have found their groove at the right the time. A large part of that is thanks to the 10 goals last week from freshman attacker Montana Garrett.

Garrett, from Cortlandt Manor, New York, was sitting at nine goals before the week, but was still having a terrific freshman season. The Lakers were off to a slow start and needed a couple big conference wins to get them going.

The 10-goal week sparked SUNYAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the freshman.

“It was surprising to me,” Garrett said. “I was very honored, especially as a freshman. I obviously couldn’t have had the success I did without my teammates, they’re the reason I get so many opportunities.”

Garrett was already committed to play for Oswego State when Howard was hired.

“All of the captains told me she was a great player so I expected a lot from her,” Howard said.

Howard had very high expectations for Garrett, saying her chemistry and speed have been a major factors to the team’s recent success.

“Her speed through transition, she has such an ability to get open, and her chemistry with her low feeders is excellent,” Howard said.

Garrett credits a lot of her success, and more, to her teammates, especially since she was playing at the high school level less than a year ago.

“I have more of a family here,” Garrett said. “My team made it comfortable and easy for me to just realize even though it’s on the college level, it’s still playing the same game I’ve played since I was little.”

Garrett looks up to the upperclassmen who know what it takes to be successful. According to Garrett, she was intitially hesitant to step forward and be a key contributor for the Lakers.

“At first, I didn’t want to hang onto the ball so much because I was just a freshman, but they’ve given me confidence,” Garrett said.

Fellow attacker Gemma O’Kane said she sees parts of herself in Garrett, since the two are sitting inside the top three on the team in goals scored.

“I knew she’d be good, with her speed and her knowledge of the game,” O’Kane said. “She’s been huge for us.”

Garrett’s knowledge and speed have caused defenders to constantly lose her in games, which are big reasons why she has amassed 20 goals and an assist through 10 games.

“I heard a defender last game say to someone that she simply can’t guard Montana because she’s too quick,” O’Kane said.

Now that Garrett has taken more of an active role for the team, there has been a difference in the quality of play. Garrett’s goals have been pouring in at the perfect time for the Lakers, who now sit third in the SUNYAC standings. Howard has been able to keep the team’s confidence up and make them believe in themselves.

With only four games left in the regular season, Howard knows players like Garrett have to continue to play this well for the team to succeed.

“[Garrett’s] been huge for us so far in conference play,” Garrett said. “She can’t lack confidence and believe that she’s not good, because she is.”

Howard knows how much of a key Garrett is to her team’s success for the remainder of the regular season and throughout the SUNYAC playoffs. Luckily for Howard, she will have Garrett for three more years, which she said she is happy about.

“I’m super excited to have her for so long,” Howard said. “Hopefully we can get more players like her to build on.”

The Lakers have four more regular season games to try and grab the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the SUNYAC playoffs and Garrett will be a major factor deciding how far they go, even though she only has 10 collegiate games to her name.