2013 NFL Divisional Round Preview

So now that Wild Card weekend has come and gone in the NFL Playoffs, the divisional round is up next. Heading into this weekend there are a few very intriguing games to be played and a few possible great story lines to come out of the weekend heading into the AFC and NFC title games next week. But that's getting a little bit ahead of ourselves here. First things first, we have four good games set for the 2nd round of the playoffs and we will break them down right now.

The first game up for the weekend is the Denver Broncos playing host to the Baltimore Ravens. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 4:30. For the Broncos this is the 2nd straight trip to the NFL playoffs, first time coming in as Western Division Champions since 2005. In franchise history, the Broncos have played in six super bowls winning two, in 1998 and 1999 with John Elway as Quarterback. In the history of the franchise, the Broncos have an 18-16 record. As for the Ravens this is the 5th straight year they have made the playoffs, winning only one Super Bowl in team history. Including the win last week, the Ravens are now 11-7 all time in the post season. These two teams have met only once before in the playoffs, and that was back in 2000, a game which the Ravens won in route to their only Super Bowl title. These two teams also met this year during the regular season. It was a game in Baltimore back on December 16th, and it resulted in a 34-17 win for Denver.

The Ravens, as mentioned before struggled at the end of the regular season, only winning once in their final five games of the year. They were however successful in beating the Colts at home last weekend in the Wild Card. As for the Broncos, they are coming in hot, having won their last eleven games of the regular season. The big talk of course has been around Denver's quarterback Payton Manning.  He had a great regular season in his return from major injury last year. The only knock on Payton is that he isn't as great in the playoffs as he is during the regular season, only compiling a 9-10 career record in the playoffs. The upside to this is that in his career, Payton is 7-2 lifetime against Baltimore. Yes the Ravens are a good football team, and yes everybody wants to see Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis get his ring on his last ride, but Denver is gonna be too much to handle. Denver's defense is better then the Indy defense the Ravens faced last week. As for the Bronco offense, they have a healthy Manning, plus he has two healthy targets to throw to in Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker and it will be too much for the Ravens. i'll take Denver by two touchdowns.

Next up is the Saturday Night game which has the Green Bay Packers hitting the road to take on the San Francisco 49ers in San Fran. The kickoff for this game is set for 8PM. The Packers playoff history has been well documented, as they have won a total of 13 NFL Championships, the last one coming in 2009. Including the Packers win over the Vikings last week, Green Bay is now 30-19 all time in the Playoffs. As for the 49ers, this is the 2nd straight year they have made the playoffs after missing it every year since 2002. San Francisco has played in five Superbowls in the history of the franchise and they have won all five games, the last title coming in 1994. The 49ers are 27-19 all time in the Playoffs. In head to head matchups during the playoffs, these two teams have met five times, with the Packers winning four of the five. The lone win for the 49ers against the Pack was in 1998. These two teams met once during the regular season, and it was the opening game of the year back on September 9th. It was a game at Lambeau Field and the 49ers came away with a 30-22 victory.

Both teams went on to win their respective divisions this season, but the Packers finished 11-5 and won five of their last seven, despite losing the final game of the regular season. The 49ers won their division with a record of 11-4-1, and 5-2-1 in their last eight games. Things look a bit different for the 49ers since the Packers last saw them On opening weekend, Alex Smith was the starting quarterback for the 49ers, and now its Colin Kaepernick. Yes the 49ers have done pretty well with Kaepernick under center but it's a different team for sure then with Alex Smith. As for the Packers, they have gotten hot at the right time, knocking off the Vikings last week. Plus the Pack is getting healthier, and will have Charles Woodson back at Corner Back this weekend. The Pack is fully healthy and have the better team statistically then the 49ers do. Finally the Packers have picked up wins against tougher teams during the regular season then the 49ers have. Green Bay is the better team and will prove it on Saturday. This game will be the best game of the weekend but Packers take it by a touchdown.

Now we move on to the Sunday games. We start it off with the 1PM game which has the Seattle Seahawks going south to play the Atlanta Falcons. For the Seahawks they have played in one Superbowl in their history and they fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers back in 2005. Including last weeks win over the Redskins, the Seahawks are 9-11 all time in the playoffs. As for the Falcons, this is the third straight year of making the playoffs for the team. Atlanta's best playoff run was in 1998 when they lost in the Superbowl to the Denver Broncos. All time the Falcons franchise is 6-11 in the playoffs. These two teams have never met before in the playoffs, and they didn't play each other during the regular season.

This one may be a close game to call. Seattle is coming in red hot. Including last week's win over the Redskins, Seattle has now won six straight games. The last team to beat the Seahawks was the Dolphins back on November 25th. Atlanta stumbled, loosing the last game of the regular season to Tampa Bay, but Atlanta did manage to win seven of their final ten games to close out the regular season. This one is a close game to call but I give the Falcons the edge, and for two reasons. One, Seattle is going to be without one of their best pass rushers in Defensive End Chris Clemens, who had 11 sacks and has been a big threat in the pass rush game. Also Falcon's Quarterback Matt Ryan is an unreal 33-4 all time at home in the Georgia Dome. With Clemens being out, Ryan is gonna have more time in the pocket and will light up the Seahawks defense. Atlanta wins it by a pair of touchdowns and celebrates their first playoff victory since 2005.

And finally we take a look at the last game of the weekend, a 4:30 kickoff with the New England Patriots playing host to the Houston Texans. The Texans have made the playoffs in back to back seasons and are coming off their victory last week against the Bengals. With the win the Texans are now 2-1 all time in the playoffs. Meanwhile the New England Patriots have played in seven Superbowls winning three of them. their last two trips to the Big Game however have resulted in losses to the New York Giants, last year being the most recent. All time the Patriots are 23-16 in the playoffs. These two teams have never met before in the playoffs. They did play once during the regular season, it was back on December 10th and the Patriots CRUSHED the Texans 42-14 in New England.

Houston won over the Bengals last week in the playoffs but have stumbled a bit over the past month loosing three of their last five games, including the Monday Night game to the Patriots. New England is coming in hot winning seven of the final eight games of the year. The only loss by the Patriots in that time was back on December 16th at home to the 49ers. For the Texans Arian Foster has been carrying the team, while QB Matt Schaub has struggled pretty bad the past few weeks. The Texans have a good defense but the one the Patriots have is better and this will just be a dominate performance by the Patriots. new England wins it by two touchdowns easy.

So there you have it my predictions for the divisional round of the playoffs. So just kick back, relax and enjoy some great football!

Oswego Men Split Weekend Fall in USCHO Polls

Heading into the first weekend of hockey in 2013, the Oswego State Men's Hockey Team was sitting at #2 team in all of Division III hockey. When the weekend ended however, Oswego had fallen three spots to #5 in the country after a split of this past weekends games. Things started off pretty good Friday night as the team traveled to the Murray Athletic Center to take on the Elmira Soaring Eagles. Friday night ended just the way 2012 did, an Oswego State win, as the boys knocked off Elmira by a 5-2 score. Oswego scored the only goal of the first period, at the 6:20 mark, when Paul Rodrigues buried his 10th of the season after a beautiful cross ice feed from Luke Moodie. The scoring held up and Oswego went into the locker room up 1-0.

Once the 2nd period hit, Oswego's offense kept right on rolling along. 1:49 into the 2nd perio Oswego would increase thier lead to 2-0 thanks to Luke Moodie's 12th of the year. No surprise he was set up by linemates Rodrigues and Jon Whitelaw. It took all of 34 seconds for Elmira to cut the lead in half, as at the 2:23 mark, Carter Shinkaruk scored his 5th of the season. Oswego would regain their two goal lead at the 8:57 mar thanks to David Titanic scoring his 4th of the year. Once again Elmira would storm right back as 35 seconds later, at the 9:32 mark, Tommy Sumi scored his 2nd of the year to cut the Oswego lead to 3-2.  Oswego would once again restore that two goal lead thanks to the first career goal by Nick Rivait, at the 17:52 mark. After 40 minutes Oswego held a 4-2 lead. Oswego would put the game away in the 3rd period when Jon Whitelaw scored his 4th of the year at the 19:39 mark into an empty Elmira net to seal the 5-2 win.

Andrew Hare picked up the win for Oswego, improving his overall record to 10-2-0 on the year, and he made 21 saves in the win. Darren McDonald took the loss for Elmira, dropping his overall record to 2-5-0, while he made 38 saves in the loss. Oswego went 0 for 4 on the powerplay while Elmira never got a shot on their man advantage.

So after the win Friday night in Elmira, the boys kept their act going on the road Saturday, this time to the Utica Memorial Auditorium to take on the Utica Pioneers. Utica had already beaten Oswego in Oswego back on December 7th. This night in Utica, the venue was different but the result was the same. utica came out hard amd dominated the game for the entire sixty minutes knocking off the Lakers by a 6-0 score. The following recap of the game was provided to us by the Oswego State Sports Information Department:

Eighth-ranked Utica (11-2-0) registered four power-play goals as the Pioneers handed the second-ranked Oswego State men's ice hockey team (12-3-0) a 6-0 loss Saturday night at Utica Memorial Auditorium. Utica posted three goals in the first and second periods, while going 4-for-6 with the extra attacker.

Chris Santiago opened the scoring at 5:38 in the first period to give the Pioneers an early advantage. Louie Educate make it a 2-0 contest at the 13:34 mark, which was less than a minute into a Laker boarding penalty. Utica extended its lead before the end of the stanza following a power-play goal by Adam Graff at 17:24.

The Pioneers carried momentum into the second period courtesy of two Oswego State penalties in the final minute of the first. Utica capitalized on the two-skater advantage 53 seconds into the frame when Rob Morton scored.

The Pioneers struck again at 5:27 to make the score, 5-0, prompting the Lakers to pull starting goalie Andrew Hare in favor of Justin Gilbert. Utica scored its final goal of the game at 16:13 in the second following another 5-on-3 situation. By the end of the period, the Pioneers held a 6-0 lead.

Oswego State had two power-play chances in the third period, but came up short on the scoreboard. 

Andrew Hare stopped eight shots and allowed five goals in 25:27, while Gilbert finished with 19 saves on 20 shots in 34:33 during his first collegiate appearance. Utica's Nick Therrien made 25 saves in the win.


With the loss to Utica, it marks the 2nd time Oswego has been shutout in the last two seasons. Neuman shutout Oswego last year 3-0 in the Championship game of the Pathfinder Bank Oswego Hockey Classic. The loss also knocked Oswego down three spots in the last USCHO coaches poll, as the team dropped from 2nd in the nation down to 5th. Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie are still one and two on the team in scoring. Rodrigues leads the way with 30 points on 10 goals and 20 assists, while Moodie is right behind him with 25 points on 12 goals and 13 assists. Those two are the only two guys with more than 20 points on the team, Jesse McConney is right behind with 19 points. Moodie and Rodrigues are also the only guys on the team with double digits in goals, Chris Ayotte is right behind with nine goals.

Rodrigues still leads all of Division III hockey in point scoring. As a team Oswego is now tied with St. norber for the 5th best team offense in the country at 5.00 goals per game. Adrian leads the nation in team offense at 5.67 goals per game. The Lakers are now in a three way tie for the 8th best team defense in the country at allowing 2.00 goals per game. On the powerplay, Oswego is 6th best in the nation, while the penalty kill is tied for 24th best in the country.

Next up for Oswego State is one home game this Saturday night at the Campus Center at 7PM as they take on former head coach George Roll and Nazarth! That night Lakers head coach Ed Gosek will be looking for career win #200!

(Photo provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Oswego Women's Hockey Split Weekend Against St. Norbert

In the first two games of 2013, the Oswego State Women's Hockey team hit the ice at home, playing host to the Green Knights of St Norbert College. The opener of the weekend series took place Saturday night and saw Oswego State skate away with a 3-2 victory, despite some injury trouble late. Oswego got on the board first 2:20 into the hockey game when Captain Olivia Boersen connected for her 5th of the year. The Lakers then increased the lead to 2-0 when at the 19:32 mark of the period, Melissa Seamont scored her 5th goal of the year, and 2nd point of the period as she assisted on the earlier goal by Boersen. So Oswego had a 2-0 lead at the end of one period of play, despite being outshot in that opening period 11-5.

To the 2nd period we go and the only scoring in that period was by St. Norbert as at the 6:15 mark of the period Andrea Senne scored her 5th of the season. Oswego held the one goal lead at the end of the period, but this was by far the most penalty filled period of the night. Scary moment took place about halfway through the period as Oswego captain Olivia Boersen went crashing hard into the end boards and came up somewhat limping. But being the leader that she is, Boersen came back out for the 3rd period and finished the game. Oswego still held a 2-1 lead going into the final period.

The Lakers lead would not last however. At the 3:20 mark of the final period, Henriette Ostergaard scored her 4th of the year to tie the game at 2. Oswego would take the lead back for good at the 11:24 mark of the period, thanks to a powerplay goal from Megan Hagg, her 4th goal of the year.  Oswego's defense would tighten up and shut the door to hang on for the 3-2 win.

Bridget Smith picked up the win for Oswego, improving her record on the year to 6-3-1, making 18 saves. Kaley Gibson took the loss for St. Norbert, dropping her record to 3-5-2, as she also made 18 saves. St. Norbert went 0 for 3 on the powerplay while Oswego went 1 for 6 on their powerplays.

Game two of the weekend series was played on Sunday, and unfortunately for Oswego they were unable to sweep the series, as St. Norbert walked away with a 2-1 win and a split of the weekend. Andrea Senne scored the only goal of the first period, her 6th of the year, at the 12:15 mark to give the Green Knights a 1-0 lead. To the 2nd period we go and St. Norbert would extend their lead to 2-0 thanks to Isabell Lindstrom's 3rd of the year at the 9:39 mark of the period. Oswego would get on the board and cut the lead to 2-1 thanks to a powerplay goal from Leslie Jarvis, her 2nd of the year, at the 13:56 mark of the 2nd period.

But he Lakers weren't able to push another puck across the goal line the rest of the night and St. Norbert came away with the one goal victory. Tori Trovato took the loss for Oswego, dropping her record to 1-2-0, while she made 17 saves. Kaley Gibson got the win for St. Norbert, improving her record to 4-5-2, while she made 16 saves. St. Norbert went 0 for 4 on the powerplay, while Oswego went 1 for 5 with the man advantage.

After this weekends games, Oswego now sits at a 7-6-1 overall record and a 6-2-0 record in ECAC West play. Melissa Seamont still leads the team in scoring with 16 points and assists with 11. Seamont is tied with Olivia Boersen and Mady Paul for the team lead in goals with five. As for the goaltenders, Bridget Smith has carried the bulk of the work load starting ten games and compiling a 6-3-1 record with one shutout a 1>58 GAA and a .932 SV%. Tori Trovato has played 3 games and has a record of 1-2-0 with a 1.68 GAA and a .921 SV%

Next up for the Lakers is a weekend road trip to the north country and the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena in Plattsburgh NY to take on the Plattsburgh State Cardinals. Game one is Saturday January 12th and game two is Sunday January 13th, with puck drop for both games set for 3pm!

(Photo provided by Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Wild Card Weekend In The Books Upsets Galore

So the 2013 NFL Playoffs have kicked off and Wild Card Weekend lived up to the opening round hype. There were four great games played over the weekend and three upsets pulled off. Minnesota had to play without Christian Ponder, Matt Schaub finally got his first playoff start for the Houston Texans, and a battle took place between rookie Quarterbacks Russel Wilson and Robert Griffin III. There was a lot of action to keep up on, so lets now recap what happened in case anybody missed anything on this wild card weekend.

First up we had the Bengals and Texans in Houston. For the second year in a row, Houston dominated Cincinnati in the first game of the playoffs, outgaining them in total yards 428–198 and holding their offense to just two field goals in nine drives (including 0/9 on third downs). The win was especially satisfying for Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, who was playing in his first playoff game in his 9-season career.

On the Texans' second drive of the game, they moved the ball 65 yards and scored on a 48-yard field goal from Shayne Graham (a former Bengal). Then after forcing a punt, they drove the ball all the way to the Bengals 9-yard line, but once again settled for a Graham field goal a few minutes into second quarter.

Following another Cincinnati punt, the Bengals took their first lead of the game when defensive back Leon Hall intercepted a pass intended for James Casey on the left sideline and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. But the Texans took it back with a 61-yard drive to the Bengals 4-yard line, 46 coming from Arian Foster, that resulted in Graham's third field goal, making the score 9–7 at the end of the half.

Early in the third quarter, a fair catch interference penalty on Bengals defensive back Chris Lewis-Harris gave Houtson the ball on the Cincinnati 49-yard line. Houston then drove 51 yards, featuring a 22-yard completion from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson, and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Foster. The Bengals struck back with Andy Dalton's 45-yard completion to A. J. Green setting up Josh Brown's 34-yard field goal to cut the score to 16–10. Cincinnati managed to force a punt on Houston's next drive, but with just over 3 minutes left in the third period, defensive back Johnathan Joseph (another former Bengal) intercepted Dalton's pass and returned it 16 yards to the Bengals 24-yard line. This lead to Graham's fourth field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Bengals receiver Brandon Tate returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to the 39-yard line, sparking a drive that ended with Brown's 47-yard field goal that trimmed the lead to one score, 19–13. Cincinnati then forced a punt and drove into Texans territory, but on 4th down and 11 from the Houston 36-yard line, rookie receiver Marvin Jones was tackled by Joseph and Shiloh Keo 3 yards short of the first down marker. Houston then took over and held the ball for the final 2:44 of the game to clinch the victory.

Foster finished the game with 32 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown, along with 8 receptions for 32. He became the first player ever to rush for over 100 yards in each of his first three career playoff games. Tight end Owen Daniels was the top receiver of the game with 9 receptions for 91 yards, while Green had 5 receptions for 80 yards to lead Cincinnati. With this loss, Cincinnati's playoff win drought was extended to 23 years and remains the longest among all 32 NFL teams.


Next up we have the Packers playing host to the Vikings. Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder had started all 16 games during the season, but just hours before this game he was declared inactive due to injury and replaced by Joe Webb. Webb became the first quarterback to start a playoff game without throwing a single pass during the season. But after this game, his amount of completions did not increase by much. Webb was held to just 11/30 completions and lost two turnovers to a Green Bay defense that dominated the game the whole way through.

Minnesota's Marcus Sherels returned the opening kickoff 37 yards to the 35-yard line. From there, the Vikings drove to the Packers 15 with eight running plays, including a 17-yard scramble by Webb. Rookie kicker Blair Walsh finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal to give Minnesota a 3–0 lead. After an exchange of punts, Green Bay drove 82 yards and scored on an 8-yard touchdown run by DuJuan Harris with 33 seconds left in the first quarter. Harris was initially ruled down at the 1, but the call was changed to a touchdown by Mike McCarthy's replay challenge.

In the second quarter, Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers hit James Jones for 20 yards and Greg Jennings for 32 on a 72-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard field goal by Mason Crosby. After forcing a punt with under two minutes left in the half, Rodgers completed passes to Jordy Nelson for 22 yards, Jennings for 14, and Nelson again for 23 before fullback John Kuhn completed the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, making the score 17–3 halftime.

Green Bay scored another touchdown on their opening drive of the second half, moving the ball 80 yards in 12 plays and closing it out with Rodgers' 9-yard toss to Kuhn. Meanwhile, all that lay in store for the Vikings was three consecutive turnovers. First they drove to the Packers 38-yard line, but then linebacker Clay Matthews forced a fumble while sacking Webb and recovered it. Then, following a punt, they drove to the Green Bay 46, only to lose the ball again on an interception by Sam Shields. The Vikings defense forced another punt early in the fourth quarter, but Sherels muffed the kick and Green Bay's Dezman Moses recovered the ball. Later on, another drive into Green Bay territory was ended with no points when the Vikings failed to convert a fourth down and four on the Packers 43-yard line.

Minnesota eventually managed to score a touchdown on a 50-yard pass from Webb to receiver Michael Jenkins. But by then there was only 3:39 left in the game.

Rodgers completed 23/33 passes to ten different players for 274 yards and a touchdown. Harris was the team leader in rushing yards (47) and receptions (5 for 53 yards). Matthews had four tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Shields had seven tackles and an interception. Webb finished with 180 passing yards, with one touchdown and one interception, while also rushing for 68 yards. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was the top rusher of the game with 99 rushing yards. He also caught a pass for 8. Jenkins had 3 receptions for 96 yards and a score.


So that takes care of the Saturday games. Now lets move on to Sunday's wildcard action. We start it off with Ray Lewis's last home game EVER as the Colts traveled to Baltimore to take on the Ravens. Despite racking up 419 yards and 25 first downs, Indianapolis was unable to dent the end zone and against a stingy Ravens defense, who recorded three sacks, forced two turnovers, and limited them to just four field goal attempts. Meanwhile, Baltimore's offense rolled up 441 yards and 24 points

Both teams blew scoring chances in the first half. After forcing a punt on the opening drive (which Jacoby Jones returned 34 yards to the 48), Baltimore drove all the way Colts 11-yard line. But then lineman Cory Redding stripped the ball from Ray Rice and Lawrence Guy recovered it for the Colts. Then Indy took over and drove to the Ravens 30, only to lose their own fumble when quarterback Andrew Luck was sacked by Paul Kruger and defensive end Pernell McPhee dove on the ball.

In the second quarter, a 22-yard reception by Ravens receiver Torrey Smith and an 18-yard run by rookie Bernard Pierce set up a 23-yard field goal by Justin Tucker. Following an exchange of punts, Luck completed 4/4 passes for 50 yards on a drive that ended with Adam Vinatieri's 47-yard field goal to tie the game. Jones responded with a 37-yard kickoff return. Four plays later, Rice caught a screen pass from Joe Flacco and ran it 47 yards to the Colts 2-yard line. On the next play, fullback Vonta Leach scored a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Ravens a 10–3 lead with 55 seconds left in the half. But Luck quickly lead his team back, completing 4/5 passes for 62 yards to set up Vinatieri's 52-yard field goal, cutting the score to 10–6 at halftime. For Vinatieri, the NFL's all-time leader in postseason scoring, it was the longest playoff field goal of his career.

Midway through the third quarter, Flacco's 46-yard completion to Anquan Boldin moved the ball to the Colts 15-yard line. Following an incompletion and a false start penalty, he hit tight end Dennis Pitta for a 20-yard touchdown throw, increasing the lead to 17–6. Indianapolis responded with another drive deep into Ravens territory, but it was halted on the 8-yard line where Vinatieri kicked his third field goal of the game (and 48th postseason field goal of his career).

Early in the fourth quarter, Colts linebacker Pat Angerer recovered a fumble from Rice, leading to another drive into the Ravens red zone. But this time they came up empty when Vinateri missed a field goal from 40 yards out. This was Vinatieri's first postseason miss against Baltimore. He had been 18/18 when playing against the Ravens up to this point.

The miss turned out to be devastating. Just two plays later, Pierce ran the ball 43 yards to the Colts 18-yard line, and then Flacco finished the drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Boldin, giving the team a 24–9 lead. Then their defense closed out the game by forcing two turnovers inside their own 40. First they stopped the next drive when defensive back Cary Williams intercepted a pass from Luck on Ravens 15-yard line and returned it 41 yards. Then after a punt, Indianapolis turned the ball over on downs at the Baltimore 37 with 2:10 left in the game.

Flacco finished the game 12/23 for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Boldin caught 5 passes for a franchise playoff record 145 yards (all in the second half). Pierce rushed for 103 yards, while Rice had 70 rushing yards and a 47-yard catch. Jones returned 4 punts for 57 yards, two kickoffs for 60 yards, and caught an 8-yard pass. Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who returned for this game after missing most of the season with injuries and had recently announced his intention to retire after the postseason, finished with a team leading 13 tackles and a pass deflection. Kruger had four tackles and 2.5 sacks.

For the Colts, Luck finished his first playoff game 28/54 for 288 yards with 1 interception, while also rushing for 35 yards. Receiver Reggie Wayne caught 9 passes for 114 yards.


Now we take a look at the final game of wild card weekend as it was the battle of star rookie QB's as Russel Wilson took on Robert Griffin III. Seattle overcame a 14-point deficit in the first quarter to earn their first playoff win on the road since 1983. Seattle has now won three straight playoff games against Washington, who were playing in their first home playoff game since 1999. This was the second playoff game ever to feature a rookie starting quarterback on each team. The first was in the previous season (Houston vs Cincinnati).

Washington stormed out of the game with touchdowns on their first two drives. After receiving the opening kickoff, they drove 80 yards, featuring a 30-yard reception by Pierre Garçon and an 18-yard run by Alfred Morris. Robert Griffin III finished the drive with 4-yard touchdown pass to reserve running back Evan Royster. Then the Redskins defense forced a three-and-out, and Richard Crawford gave them good field position with a 12-yard punt return to the 46-yard line. Washington subsequently moved the ball 54 yards and scored on Griffin's 4-yard toss to tight end Logan Paulsen.

But Seattle dominated the rest of the game, holding the Redskins to a final total of just 202 offensive yards. The Seahawks responded with a 66-yard drive, including a 19-yard scramble by rookie QB Russell Wilson, that ended on field goal by Steven Hauschka. Following a punt, running back Marshawn Lynch's 20-yard gain on a fumble recovery set up their first touchdown of the game. Fullback Michael Robinson also made a big impact on the drive, catching a 19-yard pass from Wilson and capping the drive with a 4-yard touchdown catch. On the next possession, safety Earl Thomas intercepted a pass from Griffin on the Seattle 26-yard line. Wilson's subsequent completions to Doug Baldwin and Zach Miller for gains of 33 and 22 yards set up Hauschka's second field goal, cutting the score to 14–13 at the end of the half.

Seattle started the third quarter with a drive to the Redskins 1-yard line, but then Lynch lost a fumble that was recovered by Washington lineman Jarvis Jenkins. In the fourth quarter, he managed to redeem himself with a 27-yard touchdown run. Then Wilson completed a pass to Miller for the two point conversion, giving his team a 21–14 lead. Then after the kickoff, Bruce Irvin sacked Griffin for a 12-yard loss. On the next play, Griffin fumbled the snap and suffered a game-ending injury. Seahawks lineman Clinton McDonald recovered the ball on the Redskins 5-yard line, setting up Hauschka's third field goal to make the final score 24–14. Washington responded with a drive to the Seattle 20, but turned the ball over on downs with 1:08 left in the game.

Wilson finished his first playoff game 15/26 for 187 yards and a touchdown, along with 67 rushing yards. Lynch rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown, and caught a pass for 9 yards. For the Redskins, safety Reed Doughty had 11 tackles and 2 sacks. Morris was their top rusher with 80 yards.


So there you have it, the full recap of the events of wild card weekend. Check back here on Friday as we will be previewing the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs then!

2013 NFL Playoffs Set to Kick Off

After a long, grueling 16 game regular season, the Playoffs have now been set in the National Football League. Thirty Two teams began this journey all the way back in September, but now only twelve remain, and as always the top two teams in each conference receive automatic bye's in wild card weekend. Those four clubs who can relax and watch the opening round of the playoffs are the Atlanta Falcons (#1 Seed NFC), San Fransisco 49ers (#2 Seed NFC), the Denver Broncos (#1 Seed AFC), and the New England Patriots (#2 Seed AFC). There will be four games on wild card weekend two on Saturday and two on Sunday. We will start with the preview of the two Saturday games.

First up on Saturday will be a 4:30 kickoff between the Houston Texans and the Cincinnati Bengals. These two teams didn't face each other during the regular season. For the Bengals this will be their 16th trip to the playoffs  in franchise history, and their third in the last four season. Cincinnati lifetime is 5-10 in the playoffs having lost in two Superbowls, first in 1981 and then again in 1988, both losses to the 49ers. As for the Texans this is the 2nd straight year they have made the playoffs. Last year the beat this same Bengals team in the opening round, and then lost in the Divisional round to the Baltimore Ravens.

Now then as for this matchup for Saturday, defensively both teams match pretty evenly. The offensive side of the ball however is where things get interesting. The Texans have a much better offense then the Bengals statistically. The Texans have struggled the last month of the season, loosing three of their last four games, while the Bengals appear to be coming in hot, having won their last three straight, and have only lost two games since Halloween. Houston has home field advantage in this game, and the Bengals have gotten better as the year has gone along. I'm taking the upset here as the Bengals knock off the Texans by a field goal.

Next up we have the final game on Saturday which is an 8PM kickoff between the Green Bay Packers taking on the Minnesota Vikings. These two clubs played twice during the regular season, each team winning once. Green Bay took the first meeting back on December 4th at home by a 23-14 score, but the Vikings got the last laugh, beating the Packers in Minnesota on the last day of the regular season, by a 37-34 final score. These two clubs have meet once before in the playoffs, back in 2004, when the Vikings upset the Packers 31-17. In their history the Packers have won nine NFL Championships and four Superbowls, most recently being two years ago when they beat Pittsburgh. Lifetime the Packers have a playoff record of 29-17. As for the Vikings, they made the playoffs in 2008 and 2009 and have missed the last two years of playoff action. Minnesota has never won the big prize, but have been to the big dance four times, in 1969 (lost to Chiefs), 1973 (lost to Dolphins), 1974 (lost to Steelers), and 1976 (lost to Raiders). In franchise history, Minnesota has a 18-26 record in the playoffs.

This game is going to be the highest scoring game of the opening round. The Vikings are coming in riding a four game winning streak and have the 2nd best rushing attack in the league, right behind the Washington Redskins, thanks to the awesome comeback year by Adrian Peterson. As for the Packers, they have won five of the last seven games, but lost the final game of the regular season to the Vikings in Minnesota. Green Bay is coming in with the 9th best passing attack in football thanks to last years league MVP Aaron Rogers. The Pack has lost only one game at home this year, and that was the first game of the year to the 49ers. After the way things went down between the two teams last week this is going to be one hell of a football game. The Vikings gave Rogers fits at the start of the game last week, but now I think he has made the adjustments. Adrian Peterson will have a strong game for the Vikings and this one is going to need Overtime to decide it but I take the Packers by a touchdown.

Now on to the Sunday games, and up first with a 1PM kickoff is the Baltimore Ravens hosting the Indianapolis Colts. These two teams didn't face each other during the regular season. Baltimore has now made the playoffs for the fifth year in a row and the sixth time in the last seven season. The Ravens have made one appearance in the Superbowl a game which they won in 2000 against the Giants. Baltimore is 10-7 all time in the playoffs. As for the Colts, they have played in three NFL Championship games, winning two, and have played in four Superbowl's, winning two. Since the turn of the century the Colts have missed the playoffs only twice, and this will be the first postseason run without Payton Manning at Quarterback since 1996. The Colts are 19-20 all time in the playoffs. Indianapolis has won both previous meetings between these two teams in the playoffs.

As for the matchup this Sunday, it will indeed be a very physical game. Baltimore has always had one of the better defenses in football and will make things interesting for Colts QB Andrew Luck, who has been prone to the turnover this season. Indy has won two straight games and ten of their final thirteen. Baltimore meanwhile has come in loosing four of their final five games. The Colts have been hot and expect them to stay that way as the Ravens make a quick playoff exit. I'll take the Colts by a touchdown.

The final game of the weekend will have a 4:30 kickoff and will pit the Seattle Seahawks on the road against the Washington Redskins. These two teams did not meet during the regular season and the Seahawks have won both meetings between these two teams in the Playoffs, 2005 and 2007. 2007 was the last time the Redskins made the playoffs. Washington all time in the playoffs has made it to the NFL Championship game eleven times, winning two NFL championships and three Super Bowls. The Skins are 23-17 all time in the playoffs. Meanwhile Seattle last made the playoffs back in 2010. Seattle has only made it to the Superbowl once and that was in 2005 and a loss to the Steelers. All time the Seahawks are 8-11 in the playoffs.

Both teams are coming into this game hot. Seattle has won five straight games, while Washington comes in even hotter, winning its last seven in a row. This may be the most intriguing matchup of the opening round as both teams come into the game with stud rookie quarterbacks, Robert Griffin III for Washington and Russel Wilson for Seattle. Washington finished the regular season as a top five team in the NFL on both offense and Defense. And yes Seattle has come in hot in the latter half of the season. Russel Wilson will put up a good fight against the Redskins but in the end it will be too much for him to handle, as Washington takes the game by at least a touchdown.

So there you have it. Wild Card weekend is set to go and some really exciting football will be played out over the next month en rout to the end goal, the Superbowl!

Oswego State Men's Hockey Claim Pathfinder Championship

For the first time since the 2009-2010 season, the Oswego State Men's Hockey team captured the Pathfinder Back Oswego Hockey Classic Championship. Oswego came up short against Neumann in the championship game of last years tournament but rebounded this season and in a very big way. The four teams in this years tournament were Lawerence, Castelton State, Plymouth State, and of course Oswego State. Game one of the tournament saw Lawrence College beat Castelton State 2-1. Then in the night game of the opening day Oswego took on Plymouth State in front of a nice sized crowed. Oswego controlled the play for most of the game and skated away with a 6-2 victory. Andrew Wigg got the scoring started for Plymouth 4:40 into the hockey game with a short handed goal, his 3rd overall on the season. That lead would last for about 30 seconds as at the 5:12 mark Jesse McConney tied the game on the powerplay, his 2nd goal of the year. Senior Captain Jon Whitelaw made his return to the lineup and had an immediate impact as he scored his 3rd of the year at the 10:47 mark of the period to give Oswego the lead.  Luke Moodie would score his 11th of the year, a powerplay goal, a little over a minute later to increase the Lakers lead to two. Kyle Greco tallied for Plymouth State to cut the lead down to just one, but then Chris Ayotte decided to show up. Ayotte scored a pair of goals before the period came to a close, both on the powerplay, to stake Oswego to a 5-2 lead at the end of the 1st. The only other goal scored that night was by Chris Carr, his 4th of the year, at the 1:15 mark of the 3rd period.

Jack Astedt was in net for Plymouth State and took the loss, making 31 saves. Dan Jones got his first start of the year, and saw playing time in only his 2nd game of the year, and took the win for Oswego, making 27 saves. Plymouth State went 0 for 3 on the powerplay, while Oswego went 4 for 9 with the Man Advantage. Laker captain Jon Whitelaw played in his first game in almost two months after missing time with a high ankle sprain, and came back with a bang registering three points on a goal and two assists.

The next day saw the championship and consolation games be played and it was just as entertaining a day of hockey as the day before. In the consolation game, Castelton state beat Plymouth State 4-3. The Championship game saw Oswego take on Lawrence. The following recap of the game is provided to us by the Oswego State Sports Information Department:

Jesse McConney was named Most Valuable Player after tallying six points on three goals and three assists, including a pair of goals and a pair of assists in the title game. Chris Ayotte was also named to the all-tournament team following his third power-play goal of the weekend Monday afternoon.

The Vikings went on the offensive early in the contest when they had a 5-on-3 situation for 1:14 in the opening two minutes. Zach Josepher, Chris Brown, and McConney kept Lawrence at bay for all but five seconds of the two-skater advantage, as the scoreboard remained blank.

The Lakers scored the first of four power-play goals at 7:55 in the first. Brown fed Nick Rivait at the blue line. Rivait's shot was blocked, but landed on the tape of Chris Muise's stick for the open net.

Just over five minutes later, Denton King created an offensive opportunity for Oswego State when he sent a no-look pass from the net along the board into the slot with hopes of finding an open player. David Titanic pounced on the shot as he hustled off the bench for his third goal of the year.

Oswego State was not done scoring in the first period, though, as Chris Ayotte lit the lamp with another one-timed blast for the circle at 16:37 to put the Lakers ahead 3-0 at the break after out-shooting the visitors, 17-6.

Lawrence started the second period with increased intensity resulting in a pair of Viking goals to make the score, 3-2. Phil Bushbacher put the visitors on the scoreboard at 7:36 in the stanza, while William Thoren cut the deficit in half on a power-play slap shot off a faceoff with 1:04 left in the period.

The Lakers responded right away in the third period when McConney scored his first goal of the game 19 seconds into an Oswego State power play with a slap shot that found its way through traffic at the 1:19 mark. Jon Whitelaw and Paul Rodrigues earned assists on the play.

Minutes later, the Oswego State power play struck again when Tyler Leimbrock dove for a puck that was sliding through the crease from Muise and Brown. Leimbrock got enough of his stick on the puck to send it past Lawrence goalie Fabian Sivnert to make the score, 5-2.

McConney scored his second goal at 14:19 with another shot from the blue line after receiving a series of passes from Whitelaw and Taylor Farris. Oswego State's final goal came with 2:23 remaining in the game following RJay Berra's second marker of the season with an assist going to McConney.

Oswego State ended the game with a 42-21 advantage in shots on goal, while going 4-for-9 on the power play as Andrew Hare registered 19 saves. Lawrence went 1-for-6 with the extra attacker as Sivnert finished the contest with 35 saves.

Joining McConney and Ayotte on the all-tournament team were Lawrence's Fabian Sivnert and Brad Scurfield, Castleton State's Brian Greene, and Plymouth State's Zach Fox.

Oswego State opens 2013 with a pair of road games at Elmira on Friday and Utica on Saturday.

So now that Oswego has returned to form it seems, these next few games are going to be a real test. they have road games at Elmira and Utica this upcoming weekend, and then come home to play Nazareth on January 12th. That Nazareth game will be big because it marks the return to the Campus Center of former Laker head coach George Roll. So now with 2012 behind them, Oswego looks for an even stronger performance in 2013!

(Photo Provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Hideki Matsui Calls It A Career

After spending over twenty years in professional baseball, the last ten in Major League Baseball in the States, the man known as "Godzilla", Hideki Matsui has called it a career. He announced his retirement from the sport at age 38. He earned his nickname for his known pop at the plate, hitting 50 total home runs in his final year playing in Japan before signing with the New York Yankees in 2003. In four of his first five seasons in New York, Matsui drove in over 100 runs. The only year in which he failed to do so was 2006 where injuries limited him to just 51 games that year. He has hit at least 20 home runs in four of his seven years in the Bronx. His biggest performance with the Yankees came in 2009 when his offensive explosion helped lead the Yanks to their 27th World Series title and him earning the Playoff MVP that year. In that World Series, Matsui also became the third player in Major League history to bat .500 or above and hit 3 home runs in the same World Series, joining only Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Matsui did not miss a game in his first three seasons with the Yankees, putting together a streak of 518 games played. Before that, he played in 1,250 consecutive games with Yomiuri, for a total professional baseball streak of 1,768. Matsui holds the record for longest streak of consecutive games played to start a Major League Baseball career. So it shows he could play and stay healthy. Once his time with the Yankees ended, Matsui played his final three seasons in the Big Leagues with three different teams, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2010, the Oakland Athletics in 2011, and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012.

Matsui ended his ten year major league career hitting ,282 lifetime, while slugging 175 home runs, driving in 760 runs, and picking up 1,253 hits. Is he a Hall of Famer? In all honesty I don't think he was great enough to go into the hall of fame. But he was indeed a cut above the rest that's for sure. Matsui had a level a class about him that wasn't seen by many baseball players in the game and that's one thing that made him different from not only most outfielders in the game but on his own team. He was also one of the most consistent players in the game.

He didn't have to go out there and be the best player on his team. Matsui just went out and played his game and didn't say a word about it. He just went out and did his job and did it very well. Hideki Matsui, one of the classiest players to step out on a baseball field.