It has been a long year since the Marano Campus Center was filled to capacity, decked in white, watching anxiously as the Oswego State men’s hockey team faced Plattsburgh State in the 2020 SUNYAC Semifinals. Now the Marano Campus Center ice rink is a fitness center for the time being, open to students to work out at their leisure but not for riveting hockey matchups between the most bitter of rivals.
A long journey from the days of Oswego State trying to figure out a strategy to find Plattsburgh State defensemen Matt Araujo at the blue line before he can fire a right-handed slapshot. Or for Plattsburgh State to try to discover a way to slow down the roadrunner like speed of star freshman Alex Dicarlo over the open ice.
It is not just men’s hockey that is missing out on the rivalry this season. The same story applies to almost every sport. Two common opponents who give each other the tightest of matchups whenever they play.
Highlights from the 2019-20 season include a 1-0 Cardinals’ win in women’s soccer, protecting a 1-0 lead for the final 84 minutes of the game, to keep their winning season alive. A men’s basketball game in Max Ziel Gymnasium on Feb 14, 2020, featuring several second-half lead changes between the two schools. Eventually, a 13-6 run by Oswego State starting with 9:36 remaining gave the Lakers a 75-69 victory.
These close games across all sports occur several times a year, yet there is only a slim chance that it happens this academic year.
Oswego State will face Plattsburgh State once this academic year across all its sporting events. Spring sports are the only season to get the green light this year, still, it is a strange occurrence to see your rival just once across all the different sports. A regular season doubleheader baseball game on May 8, is that one meeting.
COVID-19 was the biggest catalyst in this scheduling anomaly, another major factor was the distance between the two campuses, which are 215.7 miles apart. Due to safety protocols implemented to prevent COVID-19 spread between teams, divisions were created for each sport to limit travel. These restrictions mean the four-hour trek from Plattsburgh to Oswego will only be made once.
During a normal academic year, the two colleges would face each other approximately 20 times. This is the case for most colleges Oswego State faces due to the SUNYAC schedules being similar year to year. The key difference when it comes to Plattsburgh State is how much the matchup means to fans and athletes, alike.
Only against one team a year do Oswego State hockey fans have an excuse to wear a white “flip the bird” shirt, and wait in lines that wrap deep into the long tunnel hallway that stretch the length of Marano Campus Center in hopes for the chance to get a front-row seat to see two hockey teams give their all to win. It is no different when the Lakers travel to Plattsburgh to play at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena.
The matchup on May 8 will have no fans and as it is the only time the two rivals can duel it out this year, it will surely capture special attention. The 2020-21 academic year is still to be determined how many times the two schools can go head to head.
