Winter 2013 Sports Round-Up

Men’s Basketball

Hayden Ward ’13 posts up a defender

The Laker men’s basketball team registered wins over NCAA Sweet 16 participants, Morrisville and Ithaca, en route to posting an overall record of 19-8 and a conference record of 11-7 under second-year head coach Jason Leone. Oswego State earned the fourth seed in the SUNYAC Championship, where it defeated Brockport on its home court in the quarterfinals before falling to NCAA qualifier Cortland in the semifinal round.

Hayden Ward ’13 averaged 18.2 points and 9.6 rebounds to finish his career ranked ninth with 1,393 points and second with 892 rebounds. He was the only league player to average a double-double, becoming the third player in program history to be named the SUNYAC Player of the Year. It marked the first of several accolades Ward earned on the season, as he was later named ECAC Division III Upstate First Team, D3hoops.com East Region First Team, NABC First Team All-East District, NABC All-America Third Team, D3hoops.com All-America Second Team and DIII News All-America Fifth Team. Sean Michele ’12 was named Third Team All-SUNYAC after leading the conference in minutes played and was among the best point guards averaging 3.2 assists. Earlier in the season, Ward was named the Max Ziel Tournament MVP, while Daniel Ross ’14 was also named to the all-tournament team.

Women’s Basketball

Meagan Stover ’13 goes up for a layup in the lane.

The Oswego State women’s basketball team and head coach Tracy Bruno opened the season by winning its first eight games, including the program’s first win over Rochester, before wrapping up the year at 18-9 overall. The Lakers posted an 11-7 conference record to qualify as the third seed, and hosted their first playoff game since 2006-07. In the SUNYAC quarterfinal, Oswego State defeated Cortland for the third time in the season after having handed the Red Dragons three losses in the previous 47 meetings.

Meagan Stover ’13 and Kari Kipper ’13 both received All-SUNYAC recognition, as Stover was named First Team and Kipper was named Third Team. Stover, who was also the Max Ziel Tournament MVP, paced Oswego State with 12.2 points per game and 68 total steals. The ECAC Division III Upstate Second Team selection became the first Laker to receive First Team all-conference honors since 2004-05. Kipper ranked second on the squad scoring 10.6 points per game, while shooting 86.4 percent from the free-throw line. Newcomer Evie Josbena ’13 started the season strong, as she was named to the Max Ziel All-Tournament Team.

Men’s Ice Hockey

The Laker men’s ice hockey team and head coach Ed Gosek ’83 M ’01 posted one of the most memorable seasons in its storied history. Oswego State finished league play at 14-2-0 to earn the No. 1 seed before capturing its ninth SUNYAC Championship after blanking Plattsburgh, 4-0, to claim its fourth-straight NCAA bid.

The Laker men’s ice hockey team celebrates after winning its ninth SUNYAC Championship

The Lakers extended their season following a 3-2 overtime win over Adrian in the NCAA quarterfinal round to punch a ticket to the Frozen Four for an unprecedented fourth straight year. Oswego State knocked off Norwich, 6-3, in the NCAA semifinal before falling to Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the championship game to finish the season at 25-5-0 and cap off one of the most successful four-year stretches with a record of 98-17-2.

The season’s success brought accolades for members of the squad. Paul Rodrigues ’13 became the ninth Oswego State player to be named SUNYAC Herb Hammond Most Valuable Player after pacing the league in points and surpassing 100 career points. He was joined on the First Team by Luke Moodie ’13, who led the conference in goals and reached 100 career points, and defenseman Zach Josepher ’13, who was second in scoring among SUNYAC blueliners. Assistant captain Chris Brown ’13 received Second Team All-SUNYAC recognition after finishing second in assists and third in points, while goalie Andrew Hare ’13 ranked second in goals against average and save percentage and Jesse McConney ’13 ranked third in defensemen scoring to garner Third Team honors. Rodrigues was named American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Sid Watson Memorial Award winner, which is symbolic of the nation’s best Division III men’s ice hockey player, the USCHO.com Division III National Player of the Year and the D3hockey.com National Player of the Year. He is not only the first player in SUNYAC history to receive the award, but also the first Oswego State athlete to be named National Player of the Year in any sport. Moodie and Josepher were also named Division III CCM Men’s Hockey East Second Team All-Americans in Lake Placid.

Women’s Ice Hockey

Olivia Boersen ’14 looks to make a move in the offensive zone.

The Oswego State women’s ice hockey team under head coach Diane Dillon produced the most successful conference season in program history, as the Lakers earned the No. 3 seed in the ECAC West tournament after recording a program-best 10 wins despite having just 17 players on the roster. Oswego State came up short in the ECAC West Playoffs, finishing the season at 12-12-1 overall.

Melissa Seamont ’14 became the second player in program history to be named Second Team All-ECAC West. She paced Oswego State with 24 points on nine goals and single-season record 15 assists, while finishing tied for second in assists in the league. Seamont enters next season five points away from setting the program record in career points and three assists away from the career assist mark.

The Lakers return their top ten scorers next season, including juniors Olivia Boersen ’14, Megan Hagg ’14 and Emma Smetaniuk ’14. Boersen recorded 16 points, while Hagg and Smetaniuk notched 11 points each. Bridget Smith ’15 logged over 1,000 minutes in goal en route to a 10-8-1 record, while Tori Trovato ’16 went 2-3-0 with a 1.79 goals against average.

Indoor Track and Field

The Oswego State men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams each finished eighth at the SUNYAC Championships in February under second-year head coach David Thompson.

Brittany DalCais ’15 took second place in the pole vault at the SUNYAC Championships en route to earning Second Team All-SUNYAC recognition. Earlier in the season, she broke her own record in the event after clearing a height of 11 feet, 7 3/4 inches (3.55m). DalCais was also a member of the women’s 4×400 meter relay that placed second with a school-record time of 4:05.24. Other members of the relay included Kristen Harrigan ’15, Marissa Pariseau ’15 and Katie Bott ’14. Bott also established a new benchmark in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.66 seconds earlier in the course of the season.

At the SUNYAC Championships, Joshuwa Maiolo ’15 bettered the previous school mark in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 2 1/2 inches (6.77m) for a fourth-place finish. Ben Sweet ’13, Matt Wagenhauser ’15, Nick Reinsdorf ’15 and Noah Carroll ’14 also set a new school record in the distance medley relay during the season with a time of 10:21.51.

Wrestling

Blake Fisher ’13 tries to escape the clutches of his opponent.

The Oswego State wrestling team and head coach Mike Howard ’90 had several individual successes during a season that saw the Lakers finish 3-11 in dual meets, seventh at the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) Championships and 13th at the New York Intercollegiate State (NYIS) Championships.

Blake Fisher ’13 became the first Oswego State wrestler to qualify for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships since 2009 after placing second at 157 pounds at the NCAA Northeast Regionals and tallying a 23-10 record. He put together a 15-match winning streak near the end of the season that included winning a conference title at 165 pounds to become first grappler to earn the championship since 2006.

Omar Santiago ’13 posted a team-high 24 wins at 133 pounds, and fell one position short of qualifying for nationals by finishing fourth at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. In addition, he placed fourth at the NYIS Championships and second at the RIT Invitational. Michael Gentilcore ’14 also won an individual title at 141 pounds at the RIT Invitational.

Swimming and Diving

Head coach Mike Holman ’96 led the Oswego State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams to
eighth- and ninth-place finishes, respectively, at the SUNYAC Championships in February with the Laker
men recording 176 points and the Laker women posting 131 points.

Both Andrew Minnick ’14 and Sabia Filiaci ’15 placed sixth in their strongest event, the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly, respectively. Minnick touched the wall in 1:45.74, while Filiaci broke the one-minute barrier with a time of 59.87. Minnick went on to two more top-16 finishes. Justin Berrios ’15 impressed on both boards, finishing seventh in the 3-meter dive with a score of 370.55, and ninth in the 1-meter with a score of 376.05.

Tom Schmid ’14 completed a successful season in distance races with a pair of 14th-place finishes in the 400 individual medley and the 1,650 freestyle. Katie Flood ’14 also capped her junior season on a strong note at the championships with top-30 finishes in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes and the 200 individual medley.

—Adele Burk

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