The Oswego State men's lacrosse team earned a 5-4 overtime victory at the University of Scranton as Nick Giampaolo buried the game-winning goal with 2:03 left in the extra period to secure the win on Tuesday afternoon at Fitzpatrick Field. Oswego remains perfect at 3-0 on the year while the Royals drop to 4-4.
With 2:24 remaining in the four-minute overtime, Scranton was whistled for a 30-second pushing infraction. The Lakers took advantage of the extra-man opportunity, with the senior captain notching his third goal of the year to end the sudden-victory OT. It was the second time that Giampaolo broke a tie in the contest, scoring a third-quarter goal from fellow senior Cody Hoose, giving Oswego a 3-2 edge.
In the low-scoring affair, Oswego never trailed but also never led by more than one. Luke Krizman got the Lakers on the board with an unassisted tally just 6:06 into first. The Royals knotted the game at 1-1 just over three minutes later, with the score staying at that total through to the halftime break.
Hoose, who was making his first appearance of the year, made his presence with a goal with 5:55 to go in the third to regain a Laker lead at 2-1. Once again, Scranton evened the game quickly, making it 3-3 just 1:15 later.
Brandon Dzwonkowski, who assisted Hoose on his earlier goal, was rewarded by the senior, who found him early in the final quarter of regulation to again put Oswego up, this time 4-3. Scranton had one-more comeback up its sleeve, as Josh Kasman scored the equalizer just 51 seconds after Dzwonkowski's goal.
Wyatt Russo was solid again in between the pipes for the Lakers, making 10 stops to pick up his third triumph of the early season. Kyle Wistner tied for a game-high in the ground ball category, gathering six on the afternoon.
Ben Roberts and Ryan Kennish each tied for a game-high two caused turnovers, including Roberts forcing one with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation and the game tied at 4-4.
As a team, Oswego dominated 50-50 balls, collecting 11 more than its opponent (38-27). The Laker defense not only held the Royals to just four goals over 62:57 of play, it also shut out the Scranton man-up unit on three chances.
Men's lacrosse will take its perfect mark and three-game winning streak into Growney Stadium on the campus of St. John Fisher College at 12 p.m. on Saturday to take on the Cardinals in a nonconference matchup.
