The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team faced off against SUNY New Paltz and Keuka College this past week. 

The Lakers welcomed the Hawks to Laker Turf Stadium on April 6 for a SUNYAC showdown. The Hawks won the opening faceoff and went right to work scoring a goal on their first shot attempt in the first minute of play. The Lakers regrouped and a minute later tied the game up with a goal from Hayden Coney. The Lakers fed off the tying goal and rattled off four more unanswered goals from Liam Sexton, Logan Prescott, Chris Schmidt and another one from Coney to take a demanding 5-1 lead halfway through the first quarter. Despite giving up five straight goals, the Hawks closed out the first quarter on a good note with two goals as they trailed the Lakers 5-3 after 15 minutes. 

The Hawks carried their momentum from the end of the first quarter with three straight goals in the second quarter capping off a 5-0 scoring run and taking a 6-5 lead. The Lakers offense was shut down for most of the second until their leading goal scorer, Corey O’Connor, broke the scoring drought and tied up the game with 3:12 left to play in the half. 

The third quarter saw back-and-forth action as both teams scored twice. The Lakers took the early advantage with two straight goals coming from O’Connor on a man-up advantage and Emmett Starowizc, but the Hawks responded to tie the game up once again heading into the final quarter. 

The Lakers dominated the fourth quarter controlling the faceoffs and ground balls. The constant possession led to a Garrett Elston goal with 12:03 remaining, giving the Lakers a 9-8 lead. The Lakers continued to rifle shots from all over the field and as a result, they tacked on a few insurance goals in the final minutes of the game. The Hawks’ offense had no response and was shut down by the Lakers’ defense. The Lakers secured the victory by a score of 12-8 to earn their sixth straight win of the season. 

The Lakers closed out their six-game homestand on April 10 as they hosted the Wolves. The Lakers lit the scoreboard first with two early goals from O’Connor assisted by Coney and Max Brodmann assisted by Sexton. The Wolves cut the lead in half at the eight-minute mark to trail 2-1 after the first quarter. 

The second quarter saw a lot of offensive chances from both teams, but only the Lakers were able to capitalize. The O’Connor and Brodmann show continued as both players buried two more goals each to give themselves an early hattrick. The Wolves on the other hand had seven shots on goal but were all turned away by Lakers’ goalie Seamus Hand. The Lakers’ explosive offense and strong defense helped them hold a 6-1 lead heading into halftime. 

The Wolves began the second half on the right foot with a goal in 40 seconds, but the Lakers responded with two more of their own. In the final four minutes of the quarter, both teams traded goals to bring the score to 9-4 in favor of the Lakers. The Lakers continued to pile on the goals as they scored five more in the final quarter to end the game on a 6-0 run to seal a 14-4 win over the Wolves. 

The Lakers dominated the faceoffs, winning 20 of the 22 attempts. Both teams shot the ball at a high rate as the Lakers finished with 51 total shots, and the Wolves with 35. O’Connor and Brodmann had a field day, combining for nine of the Lakers’ 14 goals.

After being 0-3 to start the season, the Lakers have rattled off seven straight wins to push their record to 7-3. They will look to extend their streak to eight as they travel to Plattsburgh for a SUNYAC game with the Cardinals at 1 p.m., on Saturday, April 12.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics