After an incredible season of hard work and determination, the Oswego State men’s soccer team’s season ended on Saturday against top-seeded SUNY Cortland. Even with such a heartbreaking 6-0 loss, this team should be proud of themselves for the many great accomplishments that they have had this season.

Coming into the 2021 season, head coach Dan Kane and the Lakers had a squad full of new and inexperienced players, so there were definitely some question marks to start off the new season. This is something that many teams had to deal with, meaning the Lakers were not the only ones who had to glue the pieces together as a team, at a rapid pace.

The Lakers had a shaky start to their 2021 season after winning just one of their first seven games, combining for a 1-2-4 record. Obviously, not the start that they wanted but bumps in the road are expected when you have such a young team who has not established full chemistry yet. Despite the sluggish start to the new season, there were plenty of positive takeaways from those first seven games. The underclassmen stepped up in a massive way, contributing for six of their nine goals scored. Three of those goals came from sophomore Kyle Gehnrich, two from freshman Kyle Hanner and one each from freshmen’s Hajoon Lee and Nikola Kovacevic.

Immediately after the rough start, they proceeded to win their next four games, all of which being against SUNYAC opponents. Those four wins right there were groundbreaking for this squad, not only did it boost their overall and conference records, but it was also a humongous confidence booster. The Lakers had contributions from many of their big players throughout this run, and they stepped up in big spots as well. 

After a 0-0 tie at halftime, the Lakers found themselves trailing SUNY Fredonia 1-0 after allowing a goal in the 59th minute. In a huge game with an important three points at stake, the Lakers were staring a loss right in the face. That was the case up until the 82nd minute when sophomore Brendan Murphy scored to tie things up. There would not be another goal after that, and the game headed to overtime. Both teams were battling back and forth but the Lakers struck gold at the beginning of the second overtime when junior Slater Bushen scored to give his team a 2-1 lead, which eventually ended up as the game-winner. The biggest goal of the Laker’s season gave them their third consecutive win and Bushen went on to win men’s athlete of the week for his heroics that weekend.

With four games remaining in the season, the Lakers looked as if they had finally found their mojo and could even be a threat to earn a top seed in the SUNYAC playoffs. The remaining four games were all against talented SUNYAC teams who were also fighting for top seeding in the playoffs, so the Lakers could not afford to let their foot off of the gas pedal. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse.

The four-game win streak was certainly something that not many saw coming after the start that they had, but neither was what happened after the win streak. The Lakers proceeded to drop their next four games, all against SUNYAC opponents, a complete turn in the opposite direction. Even after things had seemed to come together for Oswego State, they came back down to earth and were now fighting for their lives to earn a playoff spot.

After a senior night loss to SUNY Oneonta, nervous was one way to describe how most felt around campus. The Lakers playoff hopes were on the line and there were many questions surrounding whether or not they would be able to sneak in or not. Later that night, news broke that Oswego State had made the playoffs as a sixth-seed and were set up with a rematch against top seeded SUNY Oneonta.

The Lakers were underdogs, there was no other way to put it. They were a sixth-seed, and they had just lost to SUNY Oneonta a week prior to this one, so the odds were stacked against them. The first half did not go the Lakers way as they were down 1-0 and were outshot 12-1. Motivation can play such an important role when it comes to sports, and what happened after halftime was something that you would see in a movie. The Lakers answered back with a big goal from Ha Joon Lee in the 63rd minute, and eventually forced the game into overtime. Even heading into an overtime period was something that many did not think the Lakers would have been capable of doing, but they proved the doubters wrong. Neither team was able to score in overtime, which means they were headed to a shootout. Both teams were even at four goals each, that was until Murphy stepped up and blasted one into the back of the net to give the Lakers a 5-4 advantage and the upset win. This win would not have been possible without the stellar play from senior goalkeeper Brian Terra, who made six saves and had to face a SUNY Oneonta team that took 24 shots total. This was the first time Oswego State had beaten SUNY Oneonta since 1965, and what a way to do so.

The Lakers advanced and took on SUNY New Paltz in the SUNYAC semifinals. SUNY New Paltz outshot Oswego State 4-3 in a scoreless first half, but the Lakers looked lively and hungry to score. Not long after the second half began, the 0-0 affair ended as sophomore Kieran Gilroy scored in the 49th minute to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead, which would also be the final score.

The Oswego State men’s soccer team would head to the SUNYAC championship game where they would take on SUNY Cortland. The Lakers just could not find their mojo in this one as they found themselves down 2-0 at halftime, and eventually lost the game by a margin of 6-0. Sadly the season had come to an end for the Lakers.

Obviously not the outcome Kane and his team wanted in the end, but this team should be extremely proud of themselves. They began the year as a new team, after losing out on a whole season due to COVID-19, and were able to mold into a squad that would eventually take down the number two and three teams in the SUNYAC and advance all the way to the finals. The seniors who played their final games this year should be extremely proud of what they accomplished here at SUNY Oswego, and without their help this team would not be where it is today, and now a new era of talent will look to continue the success of this fantastic 2021 Lakers team.

Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics