OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men's lacrosse team clinched its first SUNYAC Championship appearance since 2009 with a 13-10 victory over Potsdam (4-10, 1-4 SUNYAC) on a rainy and fog covered Wednesday night at Laker Turf Stadium. With the win, Oswego reaches the 10-win plateau (10-4) for the first time since the 1996 squad posted a 12-3 mark. It also moves to 3-3 in its final SUNYAC regular-season game, claiming the postseason tournament's No. 4 seed.
Tyler Nason was an unstoppable force throughout the game, nearly matching his season total of goals entering the game and doubling his previous single-game career-high. The senior – on Senior Night – posted a six-goal outburst, including four first-half tallies. Trailing 2-0 late in the first quarter, Nason single-handedly knotted the game at 2-2 with back-to-back unassisted goals.
Bobby Emerson followed the senior's lead with a pair of goals in a row to give Oswego its first advantage of the game. The home team would never trail again in the contest.
Oswego did have to battle through two tied stints in the tilt, both coming late in the final period. The most impressive was how the Lakers responded tied at 10-10 with 5:11 remaining and their playoff hopes on the line.
Caleb Alford regained the Oswego advantage off a pass from
Tim Schof with 3:29 on the clock. Just 36 second later, Nason notched his final goal of the night for insurance and with 1:36 left,
Jarrod Wilkom scored his 12th of the year to put the game in the win column.
Alford finished with three points coming all on goals. Schof, Emerson and
Mark Niechcial each had two points but in differing ways. Schof distributed two assists, Emerson had the aforementioned pair of scores while Niechcial split his two points evenly. Rounding out the points for Oswego was Wilkom with the goal and senior
Luke Krizman with a helper.
The Laker defense turned Potsdam over 14 times, led by
John Petrelli's three caused turnovers.
Mark McElroy caused a Bear turnover twice while nine Lakers had one cause apiece.
Oswego dominated Potsdam in most statistical categories, starting with shots. For overall shots, the Lakers launched 37 more attempts than its opponent (61-24), while doubling up the Bears in on-goal chances (30-15). Oswego had 10 fewer turnovers than its counterpart (22-12), scooped up 11 more ground balls (34-23) and failed on just two clears compared to Potsdam's 10 mistakes on its 23 attempts.
The Lakers now await the outcomes of Saturday's remaining conference regular season games to find out who and where they will play. Oswego will draw whichever team secures the top seed for a game on Wednesday, May 2.
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