The Oswego State men’s soccer team look to continue their impressive start as SUNYAC conference play begins Friday, Sept. 27 vs. SUNY Geneseo at Laker Turf Stadium. 

The Lakers are 5-3 on the season and have outscored their opponents 18-8. In the 2018 season, they were outscored by their opponents 15-21 and ended the year with a 6-7-2 record, missing the postseason on a tiebreaker.

The offensive production from the Lakers so far is certainly an eye-catcher. Their most impressive game on the offensive end came in a 7-1 win against St. John Fisher College on Sept. 9. Last year, the most goals they scored in a game was three. The offense is led by senior Caleb Asamoah, who leads the team with six goals and 12 points. 

“We’re pushing up a lot more, finding shots and getting more guys in the box,” Asamoah said. 

Oswego State head coach Dan Kane also credits switching up formations as a key to their offensive success. 

“We’ve been playing with two guys up top at times which I think has helped us a lot,” Kane said. 

The Lakers offensive attack surely has been great, but it has been an all-around team effort on the field that has ultimately led to their early success. 

“We’re working together a lot better than we have in the past. Everyone from our back line to our strikers are producing and playing well,” senior goalkeeper Brian Terra said. “There’s a lot of communicating, just everyone being on the same page and getting rid of those little mental errors that could potentially cost us a game.”

Heading into conference play, Buffalo State (7-0) and SUNY Oneonta (7-1) lead the overall standings. Last year, SUNY Cortland finished at the top of the regular season standings with 24 points. They finished with a 17-3-3 overall record and an 8-1 record in conference play, going on to win the SUNYAC Championship. The final standings last year from second to fifth place were only separated by three points, and the sixth and final postseason spot came down to the final game of the season. The strength of the conference is certainly shown by these final standings and both coaches and players know how difficult it is to play in the SUNYAC. 

“I think it’s the best in the country, and if you disagree with that, I don’t think you could put it outside of the top three in the country,” Kane said. “We got three teams ranked right now, with another receiving votes in the top 25 and a couple more teams, including ourselves, knocking on the door.”

Kane knows how important SUNYAC games are, but heading into conference play, he knows his players bring confidence with them due to their early success and preparation for this part of the schedule.

“We try hard to set up our non conference season so that it prepares us for the conference,” Kane said. “I think RIT would do really well in our conference, and we were able to get a win against them. Our guys have a lot of confidence from those games.”

Every game of the season is important for the Lakers, but players have had Sept. 27 circled on the calendar since summer vacation ended. The start of conference play and hope of returning to the SUNYAC playoffs for the first time since 2014 begins then. 

“We know this is the main part of our season, we know this is what we’ve worked towards since the day we got out on the field for preseason,” Terra said. “In every guy’s head is the will to want to win and succeed in the SUNYAC this year.”

With these bigger games approaching comes more competitiveness and physicality from all teams in the conference. With the change in gameplay comes preparation both mentally and physically. For the Lakers, there are nine new freshmen on the team who have had no experience in SUNYAC play, and it is on the veterans of the team to prepare them for what is to come. 

“SUNYAC play is a lot more physical; we like to let our freshmen know that it’s going to be a lot more fast paced with a lot more contact,” senior Jack Van Pelt said. 

Although there are nine freshmen new to the team, Kane believes they are very talented and prepared for upcoming games and is nothing but confident in how they will perform. He knows there will come a time in deciding which young guys to put on the field, but he is fully prepared for when that happens. 

“It’s by identifying guys that have played at a high level,” Kane said. “We got a couple guys that won club national championships and played for state titles. So guys have played in big games before and our older guys are giving them confidence.”

The Lakers have one thing on their mind when SUNYAC play begins, that is making the postseason. They know they are off to a strong start and know it is important for them to keep playing how they have been in order to succeed in conference play. 

“The main point we’re giving our guys is one play at a time,” Kane said. “Staying in the moment and remaining present.”