New Lakers Turf Stadium Officially Opens

Student athletes, coaches, Dan Scaia ’68 and key administrators helped celebrate the opening. From left: Jenna Jevons ’17, Corinne Kimmelman ’17, Brandi Lusk, Sue Viscomi, Jerald Woolfolk, Deborah F. Stanley, Dan Scaia ’68, Robert Friske, Andrew Mayrick ’16 and Todd Lawson ’16.

With a flip of a ceremonial coin, a new chapter for Lakers athletics began Sept. 1 as the new Lakers Turf Stadium was officially opened for play.

Dan Scaia ’68, a member of the 1966 Championship Lakers men’s soccer team, did the ceremonial coin toss following the remarks of Sue Viscomi, Lakers athletics director, and College President Deborah F. Stanley.

The $2.37 million state-of-the-art facility hosted the men’s soccer game against nationally ranked St. Lawrence University, followed by the women’s field hockey game against top 20 ranked William Smith College.

Before the game, President Stanley welcomed students and campus and community members to the mostly full 1,000-seat stadium.

“I’m standing on a field that is the embodiment of our excellence and I’m thrilled to be here,” Stanley said. “The fact that it sits on this plateau gives it an aura of authority. We hope that helps all of our athletes who are using this stadium. I could go on and on about this stadium itself, but what I want you to know is that we are committed to the student-athlete. We are committed to a healthy mind and a healthy body.

Dan Scaia ’68, center, prepares to flip the coin to officially open the new Lakers Turf Stadium.

“Division 3 is built on the philosophy that athletics is an integral piece of an intellectual life, a life lived to its fullest,” she said. “And we make the commitment to our athletes at this level to host a wide range of athletics experiences—24 intercollegiate sports—and to make sure that they’re playing in the best of conditions.”

The stadium is the new home field for men’s soccer, field hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. In addition to the 1,000-seat stadium, the new facility features a 16-foot LED scoreboard with a color electronic message display and a 10- by 48-foot press box, providing space for professional media and Oswego’s student-run media outlets WTOP, WNYO and The Oswegonian to cover the games.

A camera deck atop the press box allows for games to be broadcast to multiple platforms by the on-campus, student-run television station WTOP10-TV, including Internet streaming so parents, alumni and fans who can’t make it to the game can watch from their desktops and mobile devices.

President Stanley described the progress that the campus has made in the past decade to improve athletics facilities, including the ice rink in the Marano Campus Center, the renovation of Romney Field House, a new track and the Lakers Turf Stadium.

Following the president’s remarks, a ceremonial photo was taken of Stanley, Viscomi, Scaia, Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Jerald Woolfolk, men’s soccer head coach Robert Friske, women’s field hockey head coach Brandi Lusk, men’s soccer captains Todd Lawson ’16 and Andrew Mayrick ’16, and women’s field hockey student-athletes Corinne Kimmelman ’17 and Jenna Jevons ’17.

Two music majors, Aaron Caraco ’16 and Ashley Domenech ’16, sang the national anthem before the men’s soccer game got underway.

Then the fans, including Scaia and his wife, Linda, took their seats in the new stadium to cheer on the Lakers.

—Margaret Spillett

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