SPENCERPORT, N.Y. – Casey Balzer (Sr., Nassau, N.Y.) and Chris Porten (Jr., Auburn, N.Y.) scored twice in the final thirty seconds of regulation to complete a 10-9 come-from-behind win for the Oswego State men’s lacrosse team (6-1, 1-0 SUNYAC) against Brockport (2-6, 0-1) Saturday afternoon.
John Countryman scored his third goal of the game for the Golden Eagles with 1:30 on the clock before Balzer scored his 15th goal of the season with 25 seconds remaining followed by Porten’s game-winner with 13 ticks left in regulation. Brockport won the ensuing faceoff, but was unable to get a shot off before time expired.
The game got off to a slow start, as the first goal was not scored until nearly seven minutes in when Cody Hoose (So., Syracuse, N.Y.) found Connor Brown (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) for his fifth goal on the season. Countryman tied the game with a man-up goal with 6:42 left in the first quarter, but Troy Crevier (Fr., Webster, N.Y.) won the ensuing faceoff and raced down the field to score. Brockport closed out the quarter strong, though, with goals from Tim Cook and Jesse Elliott.
Oswego State’s Nick Giampaolo (Jr., Setauket, N.Y.) tied the game a third time with an unassisted goal before Cook and Elliott countered with markers of their own. However, the Lakers closed out the half strong when Hoose connected with Porten and Matt Palmer (So., Pittsford, N.Y.) posted his fifth goal of the season to send the teams into the break even at 5-5.
Brockport took the first two-goal lead of the contest with 9:51 left in the third after goals by Elliott and Countryman. Each squad traded goals before the end of the stanza with Elliott recording his fourth goal of the game and Hoose netted a goal of his own.
The Lakers trailed 8-6 heading into the fourth quarter, but Jimmy Cordon (So., Camillus, N.Y.) scored off the opening faceoff for his 10th marker of the year. He, then, knotted the game just over a minute later when Balzer gave him a pass three seconds after the Golden Eagles killed off an illegal body check penalty. The deadlock remained until Countryman scored in the 13th minute of the fourth to set up the late-game heroics that started with back-to-back faceoff wins by Crevier.
Oswego State owned a 14-9 edge in faceoffs and scooped up 30 groundballs compared to just 19 for Brockport. The Laker defense also stepped up causing 10 of the Golden Eagles’ 14 turnovers.
Bryan Martin registered 11 saves to earn the win in the cage for Oswego State, while Cory Banwaree finished with eight stops.
The Lakers travel to Potsdam on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. non-conference contest against Clarkson.
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