Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse Remains Unbeaten

OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State men’s lacrosse (5-0) defeated Utica College (4-2), 13-7, Wednesday afternoon to remain unbeaten on the season. Both teams traded leads throughout the first quarter before the Lakers took control halfway through the second quarter. The 5-0 start marks the best start by Oswego State since at least 1996.

Connor Khammar (Fr., Camillus, NY) started the scoring 1:26 into the first quarter on a man-up advantage, as he was assisted by fellow freshman Cody Hoose (Syracuse, NY). Utica’s Ben Winkler scored soon after at 3:07 to tie the game up.

Again with a man-up advantage, Casey Balzer (Jr., Nassau, NY) reclaimed the Laker lead with an unassisted goal at 5:23. Utica tallied another even strength goal to tie it up again after a Trent Thomas goal, beating it past Oswego State’s goaltender Ian O’Brien (Sr., Gavensvoort, NY). Ten seconds later, Utica’s Oliver Barney scored, giving the Pioneers their first lead of the game, 3-2. The first quarter ended with a tie, 3-3, after Chris Porten (So., Auburn, NY) scored a beautiful goal with three and a half minutes to play in the half.

The second period was off to a similar start as senior Britt Leone (Schenectady, NY) scored on a man-up advantage. Exactly four minutes in, Porten extended the Laker lead after first shooting the ball wide. At 6:03, Khammar made it a three-goal game at 6-3.

Utica did not stay stagnant for long, as it narrowed the gap to 6-4 just under fifteen seconds later after a goal by Justin Edelstein. Ben Morrill of Oswego State came back to score the last goal of the half after making a play in the defensive zone, making it 7-4 at halftime.

The third period got off to a slow start, as both teams traded possessions. The first goal of the period came at 6:50 from Balzer’s stick. At 8:21, on a man-up advantage for Utica, Oliver Barney scored his second goal of the afternoon. Balzer again scored with just a couple of minutes left in the period, giving Oswego State a 9-5 advantage. Under 30 seconds later, Utica’s Trent Thomas answered with a goal of his own. Balzer, with three goals in the quarter alone, scored with 13 seconds left in the period on a man-up advantage.

Oswego State’s Chad Smith (Jr., Fulton, NY) started the scoring in the fourth quarter on a fastbreak rush, pushing the Laker lead to five goals at 11-6. Following the goal, Utica received a penalty. Hoose took advantage of the situation and scored a man up goal, making the score, 12-6. Utica’s Justin Edelstein scored its final goal of the afternoon at even strength. With three minutes remaining, Hoose scored his second of the day.

Utica’s Joe Davis was credited with the loss stopping 18 shots on goal. Wilson Mukrdechain put in 5:49 at the end of the game recording two saves and allowing one goal.

Oswego State had one man in the cage for the entire game, as Ian O’Brien recorded 10 saves for the win.  Dan Allgeier (Jr., Bayport, N.Y.) paced the team with five ground balls, while Brian Slattery (Fr., St. James, N.Y.) and Josh Roezter (Jr., Williamsville, N.Y.) combined to cause six turnovers. The Lakers finished the game 6-for-10 during man-up advantages.

Oswego State faces nationally-ranked Ithaca on Sunday at 12 p.m. for a road contest.

SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
————————————-
Utica……………  3  1  2  1 –  7
Oswego State……..  3  4  3  3 – 13

Utica SCORING: GOALS: Trent Thomas 2; Justin Edelstein 2; Oliver
Barney 2; Ben Winkler 1.
ASSISTS: Trent Thomas 2; Scott Baron 1; Zachary Menapace 1.

Oswego State SCORING: GOALS: Casey Balzer 4; Cody Hoose 2; Chris
Porten 2; Connor Khammar 2; Britt Leone 1; Chad Smith 1; Ben Morrill
1.
ASSISTS: Cody Hoose 4; Matt Palmer 1; Chris Porten 1.

Utica GROUND BALLS: Oliver Barney 6; Scott Baron 5; Mick Krajacic 5;
Tom Byrne 3; Joe Davis 3; Greg Geiss 3; Ben Winkler 3; Justin
Edelstein 2; Trent Thomas 2; Dan Duffy 1; Zachary Menapace 1; Wilson
Mukrdechian 1; Joe Scully 1; Dennis Timmons 1; Matt Werkmeister 1.

Oswego State GROUND BALLS: Dan Allgeier 5; Casey Balzer 4; Brian
Slattery 4; Ron Mckay 3; Matt Palmer 3; Dan Viviano 3; Cody Hoose 2;
Connor Khammar 2; Ian O’Brien 2; Josh Roetzer 2; Nick Gay 1; Britt
Leone 1; Brian Murphy 1; Chad Smith 1.

Utica TURNOVERS CAUSED: Dennis Timmons 2; Scott Baron 1; Fred Del
Genio 1; Dan Duffy 1; Wilson Mukrdechian 1; Matt Werkmeister 1; Ben
Winkler 1.
Oswego State TURNOVERS CAUSED: Josh Roetzer 3; Brian Slattery 3; Eric
Miccio 2; Ian O’Brien 2; Chad Smith 2; Dan Viviano 2; Dan Allgeier 1;
Connor Khammar 1; Mike Koos 1.

SHOTS – Utica 30; Oswego State 56.
SHOTS ON GOAL – Utica 17; Oswego State 33.

PENALTIES – Utica 10/8:00; Oswego State 3/3:00.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES – Utica 1-3; Oswego State 6-10.

TURNOVERS – Utica 23; Oswego State 17.

FACEOFFS – Utica 13-24; Oswego State 11-24.

CLEARS – Utica 20-25; Oswego State 23-27.

GOALIES – UTICA: Wilson Mukrdechian (05:49 minutes, 3 shots-2 saves, 1
GA) , Joe Davis (54:11, 30-18, 12); OSWMLAX: Ian O’Brien (60:00,
17-10, 7).

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