In their final game of the regular season, the Oswego River Hawks box lacrosse team recorded a decisive 20-10 victory over the visiting Salt City Eels on Friday night.
The Upstate Division win gives the River Hawks a 3-3 conference record (6-4 overall), while the Eels finished winless at 0-6.
With healthy scratches like Carson Coluicci (Oswego HS/Brockport/Onondaga Red Hawks) and Jack Rice (Oswego HS/College of Saint Rose/Onondaga Red Hawks) allowing for more teammates to be playoff-eligible, the first quarter was close as expected, with the two teams exchanging goals in the early going. Oswego led 6-4 at the end of 15 minutes of play with goals coming from Nate Schultzkie (Oswego HS/Oswego State/Onondaga Red Hawks), Chris Deisenroth, Edmund Cathers (2), Mike Brandt, and Owen Spearing.
The second quarter saw the River Hawks take command of the game, as they outscored the Eels 7-1 in that time frame. Goals by Schultzkie, Lukas Kucera (2), Evan Kistner (G. Ray Bodley HS/Morrisville), Tom Costanza (2), Lucas Hoskin gave Oswego a 13-5 halftime lead.
The third quarter saw pace slow a bit, but Oswego still managed to win the frame by a 4-2 count. Hoskin, Deisenroth, Costanza, and Cathers struck once again. In the fourth quarter, the two teams played evenly, with each team scoring three goals. Oswego saw goals from Brian Witmer (Oswego HS/Brockport/Zbraslav Lakros/Czech National Team), Mason Blakeman, and Cathers.
In goal for the River Hawks, Jack Beck played the first three quarters, recorded 16 saves and allowed 7 goals (70%), and Tom Fernaays played the fourth quarter, made 7 saves, and allowed 3 goals (70%).
River Hawks assists were recorded by Witmer (4), Schultzkie (3), Costanza (2), and Kistner, Kucera, Deisenroth, Zach Cole, Corey Tilton, and Evan Grobsmith.
The majority of the Eels’ scoring came from Clay Arnold (2-1), Kevin McNally (2-0), David Limbouris (2-0), and Billy Kozloski (1-1). Will Dempsey (19 saves, 10 goals against, 66 %), JP Fragola (26 saves, 9 goals against, 74 %), and Ty Gabriel (10 saves, 1 goal allowed, 91 %) split time in goal for Salt City.
The NABLL’s Upstate Division playoffs are set for this weekend, with the #3 River Hawks scheduled to face-off against the #2 Utica Yeti at 8 PM on Friday night at Utica’s Nexus Center. The Yeti (3-5 overall) also finished with a 3-3 divisional record but won the head-to-head tie-breaker based on fewer penalty minutes in the two games versus Oswego. The Salt City Eels (0-6, 0-6) have opted out of this year’s post-season tournament, so the #1 seed Thousand Island Sprits (6-0, 7-2) will face the winner of the Oswego/Utica game at the Alexandria Bay Arena on Sunday afternoon at 3 PM.
Sunday’s winner will qualify for the NABLL national championship tournament in Chicago at the end of August.
