The Oswego State men's lacrosse team was unable to preserve an early two-goal advantage, losing 7-5 to Keuka College at home on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Lakers drop to 2-5 on the year while the Wolfpack improve to 4-1.
It was all James Lennon in the first quarter, scoring goals at 10:34 and 8:50 to earn Oswego a 2-0 lead after the first 15 minutes. The senior's second goal was assisted by sophomore Tyler Nason.
Keuka owned the second quarter, however, scoring four unanswered goals to head into the halftime with a 4-2 advantage. Oswego bounced back in the third with the first two tallies of the quarter to even the score at 4-4. The first came unassisted from Nason at 12:36 while the Lakers' fourth goal came just 34 seconds later from Jarrod Wilkom. Senior Zach Anderson found Wilkom for the man-up goal that knotted up the tilt.
The Wolfpack was able to notch a late third-quarter goal to regain the lead at 5-4 heading into the final 15 minutes. It was a lead that Keuka would never relinquish, as it scored two-straight goals to open the fourth.Ryan Jelen found the back of the net on a man-up opportunity with 3:42 to play in the game to bring Oswego back within two at 7-5. Jelen's goal came courtesy of a helper from Adam Burlew. That was the end to the scoring for both squads, however, as Keuka guarded its two-goal edge during the waning minutes.
Oswego collected two more ground balls than the Wolfpack (33-31), led by Teddy Phillips' six. Goalie Wyatt Russo and Wilkom each gathered five ground balls. Phillips also paced the Lakers with three caused turnovers, while Ben Roberts aided the effort with two.
Russo finished the day with 11 saves, allowing just seven Keuka goals.
The Lakers were very efficient on the clear, successfully completing 26 of 28 attempts.
Oswego will return to action at 4 p.m. on Wednesday when it hosts Utica College in its final nonconference matchup before league play begins.
