Oswego State Men’s Lacrosse Team Looking for more Success this Season

OSWEGO — Despite being a young team, the Oswego State men’s lacrosse squad looks to make a strong push in the SUNY Athletic Conference this season.

The Lakers start the season today with a 1 p.m. home game against SUNY Polytechnic Institute at Laker Turf Stadium.

It will be the first regular-season lacrosse game on the new field.

Oswego State won its first three games last year but wound up with a 7–7 overall record, including a 1–5 mark in the SUNYAC.

“The conference is going to be similar to last year. It’s a really competitive conference,” said Oswego State coach Drew Bezek, who begins his second season at the helm of the Lakers.

He noted that Cortland is again the team to beat.

“They’re the top horse. You also have teams like Plattsburgh that are knocking on the door. Teams like Potsdam, Oneonta, and Brockport are all in the mix with us including Geneseo. Hopefully we can mentally be there for our SUNYAC games,” Bezek said.

The Lakers’ 15-game regular-season schedule includes eight home contests at the new stadium.

“I think it’s a great resource for our guys, just to be able to have a full field and be able to use it,” Bezek said. “Before, we had to wait on Mother Nature to give us a chance to get outside, which is never an exact science. I think it’s helped us out a lot. I hope our guys appreciate it. It gives us game-like reps in practice, which is really helpful to get us geared up for the season.”

Sophomore attackman Tyler Nason and sophomore attackman/midfielder Luke Krizman are the Lakers’ top returning scorers. Nason finished with 15 goals and four assists last year, while Krizman had 12 goals and six assists.

The Lakers bring in nine freshmen this year, with six playing on the offensive end.

The roster also includes Oswego native Chase Izyk, a junior midfielder who played in every game last year and was the Lakers’ second-leading faceoff man.

“We’re going to have some learning pieces, because we have a pretty young offensive end of the field,” Bezek said. “But I think nice thing is that we have a lot of room to grow.”

Another key returning player is junior goalkeeper Wyatt Russo. He started every game last year and posted a goals-against average of 8.41 and a save percentage of 54.3 percent last year.

Bezek said goaltending is the strongest area of the team. Russo will be in a three-man rotation in net along with junior Troy Calkin and freshman Zachary Lamberti.

Calkin appeared in two games for the Lakers last year. He made a career-high nine saves against Potsdam last April. Lamberti is a freshman coming out of Smithtown West High School in Kings Park.

“We have three guys that do a really nice job for us, and consistently do that. So it’s nice in the fact that we have three guys that are pushing each other and creating that competition every day,” Bezek said.

Bezek said the overall team goal every year is to make the SUNYAC Tournament and potentially the NCAA Division III Tournament.

“But right now, playing it game by game is the most important thing and making progress throughout the season,” Bezek said.