The Oswego State men’s soccer team beat SUNY New Paltz this Saturday to win their last game of the regular season.

The Lakers won their first game since Oct. 12 and it came at a crucial time just before the SUNYAC playoffs begin. Up on Laker Turf, the first half of the game saw a lot of physical play from the Lakers and the Hawks, with 16 fouls being drawn. The score remained knotted at zero until the 27th minute when Chris Smith scored an unassisted goal past the New Paltz goalkeeper. The goal was Smith’s 7th of the year and his 14th point of the year, which are both team highs.

The scoreboard stood 1-0 for the remainder of the first half. The second half saw more physical play between both teams, with another 14 fouls being committed. The Lakers registered three shots on goal during the second half and Sophomore Forward Tajay Ellis was able to bury one in the back of the net in the 84th minute off of a pass from Kyle Gehnrich.

The deciding factor of the second half was the play of Kyle Rose, who made 5 key saves to give the Lakers a shutout on the day. Oswego was able to keep the score at 2-0 until the final whistle sounded, sending the Hawks home with their 3rd conference loss of the year.

The regular season is now over for the Lakers and their final overall record stands at 8-4-4, going 3-4-2 in SUNYAC play. The record puts them in 6th place in the SUNYAC, just above the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils who have a record of 3-6. The win secures the last playoff spot in the SUNYAC tournament for the Lakers, who were waiting to see the result of the Fredonia vs. Oneonta game on Saturday. Luckily, the Blue Devils lost narrowly with a final score of 2-1, which moved the Lakers into the playoffs.

With the 2-0 victory over New Paltz, Oswego secured the 6th seed in the SUNYAC playoffs and will face the 3rd seeded Cortland Red Dragons away on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 11:00 a.m.

If Oswego is able to pull off an upset versus Cortland, they will then advance to the next round of the tournament and play at Oneonta in the semi-finals. 5th seeded New Paltz will be facing 4th seeded Plattsburgh State on Saturday as well, the winner of this game will move on to face 1st seeded Buffalo State in the semi-finals.

The Lakers will have the week to prepare for their big game in hopes of causing an upset at Grady Field in Cortland.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics