River Hawks defeat Serpents 20- 14; face Spirits on Wednesday night     

OSWEGO COUNTY – Behind a balanced offense and a stifling first-half defense, the Oswego River Hawks outscored the visiting Seneca Lake Serpents 20-14 on Friday night, improving their divisional  Oswego’s record to 2-0. The Serpents dropped to 0-3 in the NABLL’s Upstate division.

     Both teams struggled to score early, as River Hawks starter Jack Beck and Serpents goalie John Jetski stopped shot after shot. Oswego’s Evan Kistner (Fulton/SUNY Morrisville) finally broke the scoreless deadlock on an assist from Jack Alvey (Oswego State), and with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Emmet Starowicz (Oswego State) scored the first of his three goals to give the home team River Hawks a slim 2-0 lead.

     Oswego’s offense found its groove in the second quarter, scoring nine goals – two from Mason Blakeman, two from Pavel Srch, and single tallies from Alvey, Lucas Hoskin, Dylan Smith, Brian Witmer (Oswego/SUNY Brockport), and Bailey Wood. The Serpents also found the net – for four goals on Beck – and the first half ended with the hosts holding a commanding 11-4 lead.

     The River Hawks came out hot to start the third quarter, expanding their lead to 15-5 behind goals from Blakeman, Smith, Starowicz, and Hoskin. However, the Serpents were relentless and scored five unanswered goals, closing the gap to 15-10 by the end of the third quarter.

     Starowicz opened the fourth quarter with a quick tally, followed quickly by another marker from Smith, and the River Hawks enjoyed a comfortable lead the rest of the way. Srch, Wood, and Witmer closed out Oswego’s scoring, hitting the 20-goal mark for the first time of the year, while Seneca Lake managed four more goals on second half goalie Kobie Gibson.

     Oswego finished 4-for-13 with the extra man, while the Serpents went 2-for-7 and scored a short-handed goal. Beck recorded 21 saves and allowed just four first-half goals, while Gibson made 9 saves and allowed 10 in the second half. For Seneca Lake, Jetski finished with an impressive 39 saves, allowing 20 goals.

     Oswego hosts the undefeated Thousand Island Spirits on Wednesday at 7:30 at the Fort Ontario Crisafulli Arena to complete their first round of divisional games. After their home game this week, they next play three away games – at Utica on July 12, at Thousand Islands on July 19, and at Seneca Lake on July 20. Divisional playoffs are set for the weekend of July 26-28.

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