With the end of the season coming up, the Oswego State men’s soccer team is hoping these last four SUNYAC games will get it a spot in the playoffs.
“We have four games left. All of them are winnable,” said Thomas Osborn, captain and defender on the team. “If we win I think even just two, maybe pull a point from the other two games, I think we’re absolutely going to make playoffs.”
Oswego State was on a five-game losing streak before its win against SUNY Potsdam, but Oswego State men’s soccer head coach Dan Kane does not think it was because of how the team played, but who they played against.
“It’s one of the top conferences in the country,” Kane said. “We played three regionally ranked teams – Cortland, New Paltz, Oneonta. We didn’t have results that we wanted, but we had a lot of good play in there, and now, we’re just cleaning up some of our mistakes, and our attacking players are starting to hit their form, so we’re excited about the remaining SUNYAC games.”
With Oswego State being scored on eight times in its games against SUNY Cortland and SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Cortland being nationally ranked, goaltender Brian Terra is just trying to stay focused on these upcoming games.
“[I am] doing what I need to do off the field and just staying focused for these games,” Terra said. “We’re going at it as hard as we can and we know what we need to make it, so we’re just going to go out firing and take it from there.”
Terra was recently named Men’s Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week, but he said that has not made him lose focus on his team or the games coming up.
“It’s something good to get, but I’m just focused on the team, and that’s a self-accomplishment, which I’m not too worried or focused about,” Terra said. “I’m just trying to get out there every day and practice hard and win these last four games.”
Playing some of the top teams in the country can be difficult, and when you lose to the, it can hurt the confidence of them team. For Kane, he knew there would be tough games.
“It’s a difficult thing when you lose, and we didn’t feel like we were playing that poorly,” Kane said. “We were playing against some top teams in the country, so for us, I knew that we might take some lumps there, but it’s just a matter of staying confident and believing in what we’re doing.”
With the win against SUNY Potsdam coming after that losing streak, it gave the team a boost for these last four SUNYAC games.
“It definitely helps the morale when you get a good win like that,” Osborn said.
Oswego State is going to have to keep that morale, considering it will be playing against The College at Brockport in one of these four games.
The College at Brockport’s current overall record is 10-2, and its conference record is 4-0-2. Even with this record, Oswego State seems to be ready to take on any team right now.
“We’re playing the best soccer we have all year,” Kane said. “We’re playing teams that are good, but certainly, we control our own destiny. We feel like we’re going to take care of business and get on a little streak here.”
With most of the struggle from Oswego State coming from conference games, Kane is focusing on eliminating small mistakes that could help them control these last few games.
“It’s really simple things,” Kane said. “Just making sure we’re hitting our clears, making sure that we’re defending well 1v1 and collectively, limiting fouls and just believing in ourselves and our teammates.”
Last season, Oswego State lost to these last four teams but is hoping to flip the script and get the revenge it is looking for.
“I think it motivates us. We lost to Potsdam last year, and our guys were motivated to put on a good result and so these next four games,” Kane said. “I think the guys, they want revenge and they want in on the playoffs, and if that’s what they want, they’ll go get it.”
Photo by Kyle Hurley | The Oswegonian
