ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's lacrosse team overpowered Oswego for a 20-10 SUNYAC win Saturday afternoon at Red Dragon Field. Oneonta trailed halfway through the first before they ended the half with an 11-6 lead, then they outscored Oswego 7-1 in the third quarter for a commanding double-digit advantage. The win clinched the Red Dragons a spot into the SUNYAC tournament and improved their record to 7-7 this season, 4-1 in the SUNYAC, while the Lakers dropped to 8-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
Senior
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) finished with the game-high eight points, scoring three goals and five assists with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. During the contest, O'Neil became the SUNYAC all-time career points leader. Currently with 292 points, he surpassed Cortland's Zach Hopps' previous record of 286 points set in 2016 with an assist to senior
Daniel Macchiarella (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) in the first quarter.
Senior
Aidan Boyle (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) recorded the game-high five goals and added an assist for six points. Junior
Thomas Hnis (Smithtown, N.Y./Kings Park) scored four goals with an assist for five points, and collected four ground balls. Senior
Aidan Greene (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) found the back of the net twice, collected three ground balls and caused a turnover in the win.
"That was a competitive team victory," said Head Coach
Pete Owens. "I'm really proud of the way we competed today. A lot of guys gave a huge effort."
Oswego got out to a 3-1 lead at 8:39 in the opening period before Oneonta answered with six unanswered goals and ended the quarter up 7-4. Hnis started the run with an unassisted goal at 6:47 as Boyle netted his first of the game 30 seconds later. Junior
Ryan Lussier (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills Ballston Lake) fired in his fourth goal of the season off a pass from senior
Sergio Ilario (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North). O'Neil scored his second of the day with an assist from sophomore
Riley Royals (New Hyde Park, NY/Herricks), then he broke the SUNYAC career points record with an assist to Macchiarella on a man-up goal for his eighth score this year at 2:47. After a Laker timeout, junior
Nathan Nurse (Brooklyn, N.Y./Uncommon Collegiate Charter) won the faceoff and gave an underhand pass to Greene at midfield. Greene brought the ball into the back corner of the attack zone, easily got by his defender to cut towards the net and rifled it up high into the net.
Hnis scored the first goal of the second period with an assist from Boyle, but Oswego responded with two goals to cut the deficit to 8-6 at 8:19 in the second. The Red Dragons shook off the Lakers response and scored seven straight goals to take a 15-6 lead with 6:06 left in the third quarter. Senior
Shakim Carr (Brooklyn, N.Y./John Dewey) recorded his sixth goal of the season, while freshman
Ryan Babikian (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) netted his 14th score this year on a man-up advantage. Boyle totaled two of the seven goals for his hat trick, then sophomore
Cody Sharp (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills Ballston Lake) tallied his ninth goal this season on an assist from O'Neil. The Red Dragon senior assisted sophomore
Tommy Hyland (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown) for his second goal this year, and Greene capped off the run with his second goal of the game and season.
Oswego scored at 5:20 in the third to trail by eight, until Oneonta closed out the quarter with three more goals for an 18-7 lead. O'Neil scored his 29th goal of the season and recorded his conference-leading 45th assist on a goal by Hnis. The Red Dragon attackman fired in his SUNYAC-leading 55th goal this year with an assist from junior
Finn Morris (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) to end the third.
The Lakers recorded the first three goals of the final quarter to cut their deficit to eight with 6:58 to play, however there was not enough time for a comeback, and the Red Dragons added two more goals for the 20-10 final. Boyle rifled in both goals for Oneonta, his 22nd and 23rd this year.
Sophomore
Mark Restivo (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) finished with 14 saves for a .583 save percentage. Sophomore
Sean Grimes (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y./Croton Harmon) finished 11-for-17 on faceoffs with a game-high eight ground balls. Nurse went 9-for-12 on faceoffs and picked up seven ground balls. Lussier ended the game with five ground balls and caused three turnovers. Junior
Johnny Terrana (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown East) caused two turnovers.
Oswego's Seamus Hand ended the game with 18 saves for a .474 save percentage. The Lakers had Ryan Behringer and Doryn Leclair each scored two goals, while Emmet Starowicz had three points off three assists.
Oneonta outshot Oswego 52-38 in total shots, 38-24 on net, and finished with a 51-34 advantage in ground balls. The Red Dragons were 21-for-22 on clear attempts, 2-for-5 on the man-up advantage, while the Lakers were 19-for-22 on clears and 2-for-4 with an extra man.
Oneonta is on the road for their next game on Wednesday, April 22, at Plattsburgh for a SUNYAC contest at 4 pm.
