Box Score

Oswego 10, Utica 7 - Men's Lacrosse Final

Utica, NY (3/6/2013) – The Oswego State men's lacrosse team held host Utica College scoreless in the final 28:53 of action, and the visiting Lakers netted five unanswered goals to close out the contest, as Oswego rallied for a 10-7 victory in non conference action at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Wednesday evening.  Oswego's Casey Balzer netted three of his game-high five goals in fourth quarter to lift the Lakers a victory in their season-opener. 

The Pioneers (1-1) were led by three goals from senior Ben Winkler (Rodman, NY/IHC) as the Pioneers lost their third straight meeting to the Lakers.  Junior Scott Baron (Flemington, NJ/Cushing Academy) netted two goals and added one assist, while classmate Joe Schoen (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) added two assists of his own for the Pioneers.  Utica returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Manhattanville College for a non conference affair against the Valiants at 1 p.m.

UC led 7-5 after Baron netted his third goal of the season, off Schoen's seventh assist of the year, to give the Pioneers a two goal cushion with 13:45 remaining in the contest.  Unfortunately for UC that's when Oswego goalie Bryan Martin stepped it up.  Martin registered eight of his 11 saves in the second half, blanking the Pioneers offense for the remainder of regulation. 

A huge turning point for the Lakers was when Cody Hoose ripped home the game-tying goal as the clock expired in the third quarter, to knot the score at 7-7, as the visitors took a huge momentum swing into the final 15 minute stretch.  Balzer led the fourth quarter charge for the Lakers, scoring goals at 12:38, 10:38 and one more with 37 seconds left to seal the victory. 

Utica came out of the gates hot in the first quarter as sophomore Zack Stevenson (Elbridge, NY/Jordan-Elbridge) won the opening face-off and also scored the game's opening goal to give UC a 1-0 lead in the first minute.  Freshman Trent Jacobs (Akwesasne/Brewster Academy) then added his third goal of the year to put the Pioneers up by two.  Oswego went on to net three of the game's next four goals to tie the score up at 3-3 headed into the second. 

Oswego opened the second quarter with two straight tallies to take a two goal advantage before UC closed out the first half with two goals of their own to tie the score once again at 5-5.  UC senior Justin Edelstein (Hartsdale, NY/Harvey School) provided the boost for the Pioneers late in the first half when he netted a man-up goal, off an assist from Jacobs, with seven seconds left before the half. 

Winkler and Baron kept the Pioneer rally rolling early in the second half, netting two goals just 38 seconds apart to give UC a two goal lead, 7-5, with 13:54 to play. 

Utica freshman goalie Trey Adams (Hogansburg, NY/Brewster Academy) stopped eight shots and added three ground balls in his first collegiate loss.  David Craig (Brewerton, NY/Paul V. Moore) and Tom Bryne each scooped up a team-high five ground balls for the Pioneers.  Bryne also caused four turnovers, while Sean Flanagan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) added three caused turnovers of his own.