The Oswego State men’s soccer team gave up an early goal to the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils and couldn’t find an equalizer for the remainder of the match, as they fell 1-0 in their third of four games of SUNYAC play at home.
Trailing in the 2nd half, the Lakers had a multitude of chances to get even after they had fallen behind in the first half of the match. Despite the amount of chances created, the Lakers faltered in front of net, wasting the opportunities given to them.
Both teams had a good amount of chances to tally goals in the 2nd half, but both defenses and goalkeepers were able to keep the opposition off of the board.
Lakers’ goalkeeper junior Todd Lawson had a game high eight saves on the game. Lawson thought the teams play improved as the game progressed, but should be more clinical with their chance
“I felt we came off a little sluggish in the first half and we started to progressively get back into it a little. That’s how the game went the entirety of the day,” said Lawson. “But we’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities, but we didn’t today.”
Junior Matt Massenzio, who is playing his first season for the Lakers, took three shots and was an active man for the Lakers throughout the contest. He shared the same opinion as Dawson, believing the Lakers need to come out stronger and have to be able to make the opportunities given to them count.
“We had our chances, they got one early, after that I’d say it was a pretty even game. We had our chances and we just weren’t able to finish,” said Massenzio. “You’ve got to make it count, you just have to have the right mindset going in and make your chances count next time.”
The Lakers had six shots on target in the game. But none were able to make past the tough Blue Devil defense.
Massenzio also believes the team needs to be mentally stronger when down in a match.
“Letting one in that early is just mental, we just have to be mentally focused,” Massenzio. “We’ve got to put some goals in early and keep that lead and staying compact defensively.”
The Lakers once again fell to their woes of letting in the first goal of the contest against an opponent. Vinny Chimento of the Blue Devils was able to pick out a pass to Ryan Ross who was able to slot it past Dawson for the only goal of the contest that would have the Lakers playing come from behind, as they have been most of the season.
Coach Bob Friske thought the team had a hard fought battle, but felt the Lakers allowed the Blue Devils to do too much.
“We let them have too many service in from non-dangerous areas, which made them dangerous,” Friske said.
Friske also believes the team needs to start of the game with a different approach.
“We need to come out with more purpose, we seem to be playing with that purpose after we give up an early goal.”
Looking into the future, Massenzio believes it is do or die for the Lakers from now on.
“We’re going to score some goals tomorrow. We’ve got to go out and win,” Massenzio said. “If we don’t win, our season’s pretty much on its last limb.”
The Lakers record is now 2-8-2 overall and 1-3-1 in SUNYAC play. Oswego State takes on the Buffalo State Bengals tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Laker Soccer Field in what is their final SUNYAC conference home game of the regular season.
