Oswego Men’s soccer has had some tough competition as of late, yet they still looked strong nonetheless. Coming off an unfortunate loss against Brockport, the Lakers were looking to bounce back and shake the loss off. In order to do so, they had to take on the undefeated Plattsburgh State Cardinals on Sept. 30. 

Oswego came into this game with a record of 2-3-3 while Plattsburgh boasted a much more impressive 5-0-3 record. In the first half of play the Cardinals dominated on offense. They outshot the Lakers 9-2 and had seven corner kicks to Oswego’s zero. The saving grace of the half for the Lakers was Andre Bourjolly who had three remarkable saves keeping the score at 0-0 going into halftime. 

The second half saw more scoreless action until around 30 minutes in. At the 74-minute mark, veteran playmaker Kyle Genrich slotted a pass to Ethan Caruana who netted the first goal of the game and the first goal of the season for Caruana. Genrich now has four assists on the season, a true demonstration of what a field general looks like. 

Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Cardinals answered right back just 29 seconds later as Plattsburgh striker John Hayes netted his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Connor Howe, and tied the game at one apiece. After that there were a few more attempts on goal from the Lakers, including a push for the goal by Kieran Gilroy that was saved by Cardinal goalkeeper Teddy Healy. 

The game finished in a 1-1 tie, a true show of strength for the Lakers taking on an opponent that has yet to lose and still managed to get a draw. Andre Bourjolly finished the game with six saves and only one goal conceded. 

More recently on Oct. 4 the Lakers took on the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils. Coming off an impressive game against Plattsburgh they were looking to keep their momentum going. 

The first half saw Fredonia come out on fire, putting on an offensive clinic against the Lakers defense. In the first half alone, the Blue devils put up 10 shots, making it very tough for Andre Bourjolly. Bourjolly did not falter however, as he only conceded one goal in the onslaught of shots sending the Lakers into the half only down by one. 

Coming out of the half, the Lakers offense put on the pressure. Shot after shot attacked the net but they just could not find the back. Then, at the 64-minute mark, Kieran Gilroy found Derek Rivera who found the back of the net for his first goal of the season making the game 1-1. 

Oswego found the goal again at the 81-minute mark. This time Gilroy was the scorer and was assisted by Kyle Hanner on a beautiful pass. This marked Gilroy’s fourth goal of the season and put the Lakers up 2-1. 

However, the luck did not last long as just two minutes later, Fredonia would find the net courtesy of Fredonia attacker Chance Lacroix. The Lakers’ offense put up 12 shots on goal and could only capitalize on two of them, courtesy of Fredonia’s goalie Tanner Stutzman who recorded a remarkable 10 saves. Despite the offense, the Lakers could not score again and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. 

The Lakers now sit at 2-3-5. With five games left on the schedule, they will absolutely be looking for wins now at this crucial time. Their next game is Saturday, Oct. 7  against SUNY Oneonta at the Laker Turf Field. After that they head off to take on SUNY Geneseo on Oct. 11. These next two games will really set the tone for how the Lakers will finish up the season so they will be sure to go into these games with added motivation.

Photo via: Oswego Athletics