The Oswego State men`s lacrosse team dropped a 10-4 decision to No. 7 Cortland on the road Thursday afternoon. With the loss, the Lakers fall to 4-5 overall and 0-2 in SUNYAC action while the Red Dragons improve to 9-3, 3-0.
Trailing 1-0 midway through the opening period, Oswego took advantage of a Cortland infraction. Cortland was whistled for a 30-second interference and 22 seconds later the Lakers capitalized as Matt Palmer buried his ninth goal of the year on an assist from Nick Giampaolo.
It was the first of Palmer's three goals on the day but it was also the only goal for Oswego in the first 30 minutes as Cortland went to the locker rooms with a 5-1 advantage.
Palmer's next two goals were the opening scores of the second half as Oswego pulled to within two at 5-3. The Red Dragons then stretched its lead to 8-3 before Mark Niechcial tallied Oswego's fourth and final score with 4:44 remaining in the game. Niechcial's goal was his second of the year and came in unassisted fashion.
Freshman Wyatt Russo was strong in net once again as he stopped more than 50.0% of the shots he saw, collecting 14 saves on the day, his third highest total of the year.
Oswego outshot the Red Dragons 41-38 in the contest but Cortland held an edge on ground balls (33-30) and faceoffs (10-7).
The Lakers will return to the field at 1 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to Plattsburgh to take on the Cardinals in a conference tilt.
