The Oswego State field hockey team has been shooting for a winning record for the last 34 seasons, after a 7-6 record in 1985 – a year that Bowling for Soup said was “way before Nirvana, there was U2 and Blondie and music still on MTV.”

Ever since 1986, the theme has been the same for Oswego State: achieve a winning record once again. And since 2002, the added goal of making the postseason has been included in that.

The Lakers have not made the playoffs since 2002 in the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association – before the SUNYAC even existed for field hockey.

Last season, Oswego State finished with a 6-10 record and entered the final two games of the season with the potential to finish at .500, but it fell in back-to-back games against St. Lawrence and Union College.

During that season, the Lakers had a strong senior class, including Katie Reynolds, who led the team in points and goals, with 33 and 15, respectively. Also graduating were Emily Conklin and Lacey Woite, who were third and fourth in points.

Now, Oswego State head coach Heather Moore is looking toward her three captains to fill the void left by last year’s senior class.

“I would say Riley Mallett, Kathleen Little and Theresa Glynn. They’re three of our captains,” Moore said. “Right now they’re all leading by example. They came [into the season] in shape and they’re fit. Now we’re just working on communication so we can fire up the rest of the group.”

Mallett is the only senior on this year’s squad, but is backed by six juniors, including Little and Glynn. The three of them have come close to achieving the goals Moore has established since she joined with the program during the 2017 season. Mallet led the team in minutes last year, but registered no points in the campaign from the midfield. During her sophomore year in 2017, she only scored a single goal.

But, this season, Moore is hoping to utilize the midfield a little more and have more of a widespread scoring effort from the forwards after losing Reynolds. In the three seasons that she was at Oswego State, Reynolds led the team in points for two of those – her junior and senior seasons – and was tied for third during her sophomore campaign.

“Obviously losing Katie and her skillset was a huge loss. But, I think that our forwards right now are stepping into gap,” Moore said. “We’re working through the midfield to get a collective effort so that there’s not just one person, but an entire team.”

After bringing in 11 freshmen last year – nine of which stayed for their second season – Moore recruited eight freshmen this year. A couple freshmen have already stood out, Moore said, in the team’s first couple games of the season, including Annie O’Neill who has scored in both of the Lakers’ games.

“I think [O’Neill’s] getting herself into some good positions and getting some good touches close to the cage,” Moore said. “Kaitlyn Ahle is also starting on the midfield and she’s generating a lot of offense.”

The Lakers have already started their season, with a road game at Houghton College on Aug. 31 and a game on Laker Turf on Sept. 5 against Elmira College. Oswego State was victorious in the road matchup, but fell to the Soaring Eagles 3-1.

In both games, freshman goalie Erica Scheblein played all 60 minutes. Moore said returning goaltender Joanna Christman is coming off a shoulder injury from the 2018 season.

“She had surgery. She’s gaining confidence and communicating a lot better this year,” Moore said. “Erica is a strong goalkeeper. She has really good fundamental skills. I think between the two of them, it’ll be a strong year in the cage.”

Moore said following the win against Highlanders, she thought the team had a strong passing game and was “doing the little things right.” She also said the expectations were positive following the win.

“I think [the loss to Elmira College] just showed that we need to continue to work on those little things so that we can continue to do that consistently,” Moore said.

The Oswego State Lakers, who are now 1-1, will continue their season on Sept. 7 against Wells College, but will not see a SUNYAC opponent until Sept. 25 when it travels to Morrisville State.

Photo by Nicole Hube| The Oswegonian