Lakers’ ride late surge at home to defeat New Paltz

Five wins and zero losses; that is now the all-time record Oswego State men’s lacrosse holds over SUNY New Paltz.

The Lakers had extended the undefeated mark to five following their 15-10 win over the Hawks on Wednesday, April 22. In the midst of a late offensive raid, junior Garrett Elston buried six goals while on the defensive end, senior Seamus Hand collected 15 saves.

The Lakers’ jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, with Elston accounting for two of the goals. For the midfielder, essentially everything went to plan early on. 

“We were all ready to go,” Elston said. “We looked fast and sharp, the ball was moving well and shots were falling.”

The same notion applied for the Hawks’ throughout the remainder of the first half, however. They poured on four goals of their own to cap it off impressively, alongside a strong showing on other fronts – notably three successful clears and a faceoff win. A pair of goals were scored within the final six minutes of the second quarter, sending the two teams into halftime with five goals apiece. 

Although the Hawks’ entered the second half with motivation to keep their attack intact, the defensive prowess of the Lakers’ proved overpowering. They forced the Hawks’ into five unsuccessful shots – all of which were fended off by the talents of senior goalie Seamus Hand – along with three turnovers within the first 10 minutes.

The biggest defensive beneficiary of the team was senior Austin Sroda, who finished the day with 10 ground balls while also winning 19 of 27 faceoffs. Sroda credited the work ethic he held as a contributing factor to his impressive performance.

“Just keep working the ‘X’, knowing that even if I’m losing a bit, just working hard to get the ball back for our offense to be able to score, keep driving and not giving up – that’s the main thing.”

After a back and forth third quarter, the Lakers completely took the reins in the final frame, outscoring the Hawks 6-2. Freshman Joey Zarcone, who placed 15th in the SUNYAC in ground balls, showed out on defense by forcing a turnover in the final quarter, while also altering the Hawks’ attack as a whole.

The Lakers’ closed the game out in dazzling fashion, tallying four unanswered goals – courtesy of Ethan McConnell, Elston and Sroda. Furthermore, the inefficiency of the Hawks’ was glaring as they misfired three shots within the final two minutes of play. A ground ball pickup by Blake Hayden waned into the final seconds, and the Lakers sealed a 15-10 victory.

Following the game, Lakers’ head coach Andrew Daly gave credit to the team’s late urgency, and their playoff mentality.

“It’s essentially the playoffs for us already,” Daly said. “There is no messing around – you got to give everything otherwise there’s no reason to give anything – and they responded to that and picked each other up.”

Daly also referenced the Lakers’ traditional style of lacrosse was a defining factor in the late surge. 

“The big thing is getting back to feeling confident and playing our type of lacrosse,” Daly said. “It was a little bit of an up and down game at first, but the guys settled in and started relying on each other and getting back to having some fun.”

Up next for Daly and the Lakers is their season finale – a clash with SUNY Potsdam, set for Saturday, April 25. The road bout holds major playoff implications for the Lakers’, as they must win by four or more points to secure a SUNYAC tournament bid.