The Oswego State men’s soccer team had a tough two-game stretch this past week when they faced conference opponents SUNY Fredonia and SUNY Brockport. The match on Sept. 17 ended in a 1-1 draw, with both goals scored in the games opening 18 minutes. On Wednesday they lost to a solid Brockport team 1-0, extending their winless streak to three.

   The Lakers had a decent start to their 2022 season, winning two of their first four games but have taken a tumble since then. They lost to a quality Hamilton College team that is 5-1-1 this season, followed by the draw and the loss this week to 1-3-2 SUNY Fredonia and 3-1-4 SUNY Brockport. This week hurts the Lakers even more because they could not gain any ground in the SUNYAC; they did not pick up any points in either game against both conference opponents. 

  Against SUNY Fredonia, the Lakers gave up an early goal as defenseman Huddy Kwiatkowski scored at just the 4:24 mark of the first half, never a good sign when a team gives up a goal that quickly into a game. Luckily for Oswego, they answered the Blue Devils’ early score as junior midfielder Kyle Gehnrich put in his second goal of the season at the 17:29 mark to tie the game at one apiece. That was the end of the scoring for the game as both teams battled until the clock ran out to try and win what could be a crucial conference game at the end of the season for both squads. 

    Oswego played a man down throughout the contest after they were given a red card not even a minute after the Blue Devils opened up the scoring just under five minutes into the matchup. 

     The Lakers were tested in the final six minutes of the game when SUNY Fredonia kept the ball in the Oswego defensive zone, putting up six shots including four corner kicks. Incredible job by the Lakers being able to not only score a goal with only ten players on the field but being able to come out of the contest without losing points in the SUNYAC.

     After the draw, the Lakers traveled to A. Huntley Parker Jr. Field to take on the Golden Eagles. The Lakers lost a brutal 1-0 game, with the only goal of the competition coming immediately after halftime at the 51:24 mark from forward Ross Domm. Things got intense at the beginning of the second half when the referees dished out three yellow cards in the first seven minutes, bringing the game total to four. The Lakers did a good job of staying resilient as they still recorded 11 shots, with four of them on goal. 

   Goalkeeper Andrew Taylor played an excellent game for the Golden Eagles, stopping every shot he faced, with the most important save coming when he was tested by midfielder Jason Wuytack with just 16 seconds remaining. It is not the result that the Lakers had in mind, but SUNY Brockport has had an impressive start to their season, so being able to keep the game close is a positive way to look at things. 

     The Lakers have a talented team, holding opponents to only eight goals in total this season on 107 shots, but the Lakers themselves have not been able to convert their own chances. Oswego has also scored eight goals on the season on 12.7 shots per game. Converting on their offensive opportunities is something that head coach Dan Kane is certainly stressing to his team as the season rolls along. 

    The Lakers’ next matchup will be against SUNY Cortland at 1:00 pm on Sept. 24 at Laker Turf Stadium. Another chance for the Lakers to turn their season around against a conference opponent.