The Oswego State men's lacrosse team lost an 8-7 nail biter at St. John Fisher College on Sunday afternoon at the Cardinals' Growney Stadium. With the loss, the Lakers now possess a 2-3 record while the Cardinals move to 4-1 on the year.
Trailing by a goal late in the fourth quarter, Keif Manuel caused a Fisher turnover and John Petrelli scooped the ground ball with 1:14 remaining. Just 15 seconds later, the Cardinals were whistled for a 1-minute slashing penalty, putting Oswego on a man-up opportunity for the remainder of the tilt. After a Laker timeout with 15 seconds to play, the away team was able to put a shot on-goal to try and force overtime. Fisher's goalie was able to make the save and run out the final nine seconds for a heartbreaking Laker loss.
Oswego was in control early in the second half, as back-to-back tallies from Tyler Nason gave his squad a 5-3 edge over Fisher. A five-goal run by the Cardinals – starting from the 8:35 mark in the third quarter until 9:25 in the fourth – altered the momentum. Goals from Caleb Alford and Jarrod Wilkom inside of four-minutes remaining pulled Oswego to within one. Neither team scored in the final 2:34, however, ending with the 8-7 Fisher advantage.
Nason and Wilkom each had three points on the afternoon, with the former coming all on goals while the latter had two scores and an assist. Also with points on the afternoon were Alford and Bacon with a goal apiece and Tim Schof with an assist on a Nason tally.
On defense, Teddy Phillips caused a team-high four Cardinal turnovers to go along with a game-best seven ground balls. Manuel, Petrelli and Tim Garrett each had a caused turnover as well, with Garret scooping six ground balls for the second-most individually in the contest. In net, Wyatt Russo made 12 saves in the loss. The senior's record is now 2-2 on the year.
Oswego had a sizeable advantage at the X, winning 13-of-18 faceoffs. Kyle O'Connor only lost one chance for an 8-for-9 day while Chase Izyk went 5-for-9.
In fact, the Lakers dominated almost every statistical category, including shots (42-28), shots on-goal (25-20), ground balls (38-22). Both teams were efficient on the clear, with Fisher holding a slight edge at 90.0% (18-for-20) to Oswego's 86.4% (19-for-22).
The Lakers will host its next competition when Alfred University comes to Laker Turf Stadium at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
