The Oswego State men’s lacrosse team went 2-0 in their home games this past week, beating SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Oneonta in close contests. 

The first game, versus the Potsdam Bears on Saturday, was a very close contest in which the game was decided in the fourth quarter. The Lakers and Bears both came out of the opening faceoff with energy and a shot by Potsdam’s Cobie Cree started the scoring off. Potsdam was able to answer their first goal with a second goal four minutes later, capitalizing on a turnover by Oswego. The Lakers leading goal scorer Corey O’Connor was able to answer the call a few minutes later and made the score 2-1 heading into the second quarter. The Lakers were able to capitalize on offense off of a quick turnover caused by Charlie Praschunus in the second quarter. It was Nate Ham that tied the score at 2-2 off of an assist by Gavin Elston. Oswego kept applying pressure on defense and caused another turnover (this time by Ham) which led to a Gavin Elston goal to put the Lakers up 3-2. The Bears were unable to capitalize on a man-up opportunity thanks to the play in net by Oswego’s Seamus Hand, which led to another Laker goal scored by O’Connor. 

Potsdam quickly answered back with a goal to make it 4-3, but then Elston put in his second goal of the day to make it 5-3 at the half. Logan Prescott won the Lakers possession in the first second half faceoff and the Lakers kept applying pressure on Potsdam goalie Saka Thompson until Emmett Starowizc was able to bury a goal three minutes in. The Bears answered back with two goals of their own, but O’Connor secured his hat trick on a man-up goal assisted by Hayden Coney to make the score 7-5. Trey Jones closed out the third for the Lakers, ripping in a shot to make the score 8-5. Potsdam was never able to close the two goal deficit and the Lakers finished the game with a 9-7 victory.

Oswego’s victory versus Oneonta on Wednesday was a thrilling comeback victory that cemented Oswego’s spot at the top of the SUNYAC. The Red Dragons got off to a fast start with three unanswered goals in the first three minutes. Oswego answered with back-to-back goals by Garrett Elston and Jason Dongelewic to pull within one. Oneonta’s Thomas Hnis scored his second of the game right before O’Connor answered back with his first. The high-scoring first quarter ended with Gavin Teiner ripping a goal by Hand to give the Red Dragons a 5-3 lead heading into the second quarter. Hnis scored a minute into the second quarter to open up the lead to three, but five minutes later Dongelewic buried one past Mark Restivo off an assist by O’Connor. Coney cut the lead down even more on a man-up goal shortly after. Oneonta answered again with their own back-to-back goals both within one minute of each other. Luckily for the Lakers, Prescott took a faceoff win all the way to the back of the net to close out the half. 

  Oswego was shutout in the third quarter of action, while Oneonta was able to take a 10-6 lead. However, the Lakers proved they still had gas left in the tank in the fourth quarter. Jackson Cummings took a loose ground ball all the way down the field and dished the ball to O’Connor who was able to bury it. Thirty seconds later the Lakers capitalized on another successful clear by Connor Postel and Gavin Elston buried another big goal. Two big saves by Hand led to a third unanswered goal this time by Starowizc off an assist by Gavin Elston. Persistence on offense was the key for the Lakers as they knotted the score at 10-10 with two minutes to go off of a huge goal by Coney. O’Connor proved to be the hero of the day, scoring with 30 seconds remaining in the game and giving the Lakers a comeback victory to remember. 

Oswego’s two emphatic wins in the SUNYAC puts them in a tie for first in the conference with SUNY Cortland. Their next contest is against SUNY Morrisville at the Laker Turf Stadium on Saturday April 12 at 2 p.m.

Photo by: Oswego athletics