The Oswego State women’s soccer team took on the SUNY Geneseo Knights on Oct. 5, where neither team was able to find the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 draw. This was a highly anticipated contest between two of the SUNYAC’s best as they played close right until the final whistle blew and both received their second tie of the season. The Lakers are now 7-3-2 with the Knights not far behind with a 6-3-2 record on the year.
Prior to Oct. 5 tie, the Lakers faced off against the SUNY Potsdam Bears on Oct. 1, securing a second straight 3-0 victory to pick up their seventh win of the season. Once again, the offense came alive for Oswego and had another stellar performance from goalkeeper Perri Anderson who kept the opposition scoreless for the second straight game. The Lakers struck first in the 28th minute when Brianna Winkler scored her fourth goal of the season on a pass from Amber McDermott. Katie Delgrosso scored her team-leading fifth goal of the year to put the Lakers up 2-0, with Lexie Thompson burying her second goal of 2022 to make it 3-0.
Finishing with just five wins in the 2021 season, the Lakers have made drastic improvements to their play, surpassing last season’s win total by two games with five games still remaining on their schedule. The Lakers have been stellar in all facets of their game, already scoring more goals than a year prior and have outscored their opponents by 15 when they were outscored by their opponents by four in 2021. Adding new players to the roster has been key to the success of the team so far this season, freshman Nicolette Joannou has been solid on defense all year and Winkler is second on the team in points. Delgrosso believes that the contribution from the freshman this season has been the difference so far.
“I think that the incoming freshman has helped a lot this year,” Delgrosso said. “I think we have such a variety of people that help on the field, it’s translated well because we have many players who can play well in different spots.”
Delgrosso and Winkler are the two leading scorers on the Lakers this season, which is even more impressive due to the fact that they are both underclassmen. Normally when looking at a team’s individual statistics, upperclassmen will be at the top, but with Delgrosso being a sophomore and Winkler a freshman, all signs point to this team having a bright future. A lot of that success can be attributed to the leadership of the older players on the team. They can help point out mistakes that are being made and encourage the new players to make changes to their game that will improve their overall performance. Winkler praises the leadership of the upperclassmen and credits them for much of her success this season.
“The upperclassmen are a big help, they are good leaders and everyone is unselfish,” Winkler said. “They all care about everyone, and you do not just score for you, it is not a personal thing, it is for the team.”
The Lakers have had a solid past three games, going 2-0-1 in that stretch, and before those games, they had suffered their worst loss of the season in a 4-0 defeat to SUNY Cortland. Oswego proved that they are capable of battling through bumps in the road, which is a major attribute when describing a successful team. Head coach Brian McGrane emphasized how getting off to better starts can help avoid major losses, which seemed to have worked for the Lakers since their most recent loss.
“We just talked about starting the games off a little bit quicker, we started off a few games slower and got behind,” McGrane said. “Against teams like Cortland, it is very tough to come back from, so starting off better will lead to more successful play.”
The Lakers take on Plattsburgh State in their next match on Oct. 8, at 1 p.m. in Plattsburgh.
Photo provided by Abigail Connolly
