The Oswego State women`s lacrosse team played nationally-ranked Brockport close throughout but took a 12-10 loss in its final home game at the South Athletic Field. It was a pivotal SUNYAC matchup, as the game broke a tie for fifth place in the conference. The loss puts Oswego to 9-5 overall and 2-4 in the SUNYAC while the Golden Eagles improve to 9-4, 3-3.
It was a back-and-forth game early on, with Oswego holding the upper hand as Esther Gabriel notched a goal just 1:04 into the contest. Gabriel's goal came off Lindsey Eggers seventh assist of the season.
Brockport knotted the game at 27:12 but Mackenzie Kjerstad beat the Golden Eagles' goalie 33 seconds later to regain the lead at 2-1. The opponent was able to string two goals together in a 52-second span later in the half to steal back the lead at 3-2.
Oswego's Erannan Shattuck evened the game at 3-3 with her team-leading 29th goal of the year at 16:25. Brockport would again put up back-to- back goals to take a two-goal edge with just over 14 minutes to play in the first half. The squads would then trade goals for the next few possessions, with Oswego getting tallies from Candace Tarana, Gabriel and Kelsey Henderson respectively. The Golden Eagle lead fluctuated between one and two goals during that time but a late three-goal rally put the Lakers behind 10-6 at the break.
Oswego would answer with a three-goal spurt of its own to open the second period. Gabriel, Kjerstad and Henderson each earned a goal over the first 9:53 of the second half to pull the Lakers to within one goal at 10-9. Brockport pushed its lead back to three with two goals over the next five minutes for a 12-9 advantage with 15:52 remaining.
Tarana recorded her second goal of the day at 10:22 to pull Oswego back to a two-score deficit but the two squads would play a scoreless final 10 minutes for Brockport to escape with the victory.
Gabriel paced the team with three goals while Kjerstad also had a three-point game on two goals and an assist. Tarana and Kenderson each finished with two goals while Eggers distributed two helpers. Shattuck finished with a score while Lange and Brittany Koelmel had one assist apiece.
The defense, which only allowed two goals in the final 30 minutes, was led by Megan McNulty's five draw controls, four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Oswego was also anchored in net by Nikki Greco, who made nine saves, including four in the second half.
The Lakers will return to action at 4 p.m. on Tuesday when they travel to take on the Hawks of New Paltz.
