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.

Merry Christmas To All!

Well since this is Christmas Eve and Christmas day is tomorrow, I figure now is as good a time as any. From all of us here at Solly on Sports to all of you, I would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy new year. And with that in mind, today is special because I will try and spread a little bit of Christmas cheer with some hockey themed spins on an old Christmas favorite, that being the 12 Days of Christmas/

First up is a tune done to one of the best announcers in the game of hockey, not only today but all time as well. I now present the 12 Days of Rick Jeanneret:



But wait there's more. Now that we have you're attention, I have more for you're viewing pleasure. If you thought the first video is good, then you will really enjoy video number tow as I proudly present the 12 Days of Mike Lange:


And just to cap things off I offer up one more version of the great Christmas tune. This one is a tribute to the game in general, an early 80's version of the song. My last hockey temed song of the holidays is the 12 Days of Hockey:



So there you have it. My Christmas presents to all my loyal readers of this blog. I thank everybody for taking time to read my blog posts throughout the year and hope you will continue to enjoy more blog posts to come in the future. Thank you very much. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

-MS

After Loss to Titans Jets Season is Over

Heading into last nights game against the Titans on Monday Night Football, the Jets mathematically still in contention for a wild card spot in the NFL Playoffs. With the loss, the Jets not only fell to 6-8, but got mathematically eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight season. Mark Sanchez threw four interceptions yet a short Titans punt gave the Jets the ball inside the Titans 25 in the final minute. The Jets blew the snap and the Titans fell on the ball, ending the game. The Titans sacked Sanchez three times and got a fourth on Tim Tebow. Jason McCourty and Michael Griffin each had two interceptions, keeping the Jets out of the playoffs a second straight season after reaching consecutive AFC title games. It was a game that saw Mark Sancheaz play his worst game of the year, throwing the four interceptions, while going 13 of 28 for 131 yards and a touchdown pass to tight end Jeff Cumberland. Cumberland led the Jets receivers with 53 yards on four catches, followed by returning Jet Braylon Edwards having three catches for 47 yards.As for the rushing game, Shaun Greene had 13 carries for 68 yards.

Now here are a few of my thoughts on the Jets season and the Playoffs. Going into the year I knew it was going to be tough for the Jets to make the playoffs. The biggest problem I knew the Jets would have would be quarterback. When Tim Tebow was brought in it was already going to cause problems with starter Mark Sanchez because nobody really had any idea why he was brought in or what the offense was going to do with him. And whenever Tebow was brought into a game it would throw off whatever rhythm Sanchez was trying to build with the offense. Normally the Jets have one of the better offensive lines in football, I'm not saying it was the best in the league, but in years past the Jets line has look a lot better then it has this year. There were more times then fans were used to seeing that Sanchez was getting rushed and it was throwing his game off as well. Granted the line got better as the season has gone along, and so has the rushing game too to a degree, but when the year started it didn't look all that great. And since Sanchez had never really been used to having to scramble as much as he had it started throwing him off his game that much more.

Another big reason the Jets once again missed out on the playoffs was injuries. Loosing Revis and Holmes to season ending injuries early in the year really put the Jets in a bind. Also having injures to Dustin Keller, Stephen hill, Jeremy Kerley, and Sione Pouha also had a major impact on the ball club. Had the team been able to stay healthy all year long who knows where the team would be right now. They may have been able to just get into the playoffs but they would not have been a serious threat to a super bowl. This ball club is going to have some serious reworking to do in the offseason if they want to have a shot at the superbowl.

I think now may be a great time to shake up the coaching staff and then work on the players. I think Rex Ryan may be wearing out his welcome and may have to go. All he does is talk and in the past two seasons, this one included, he hasn't been able to really back up the talk. Management needs to rethink how they do things too. They have been taking a dump on the fans by making bad decisions on which players to get and which players to let go of. As far as the players on the field, there needs to be some reworking done this offseason. First things first figure out what kind of offense do you want to be running. I think when they added Tebow they just thought yay we got him......now what the hell do we do with him. Best advice I can give is to get rid of him. He is a starting quarterback not a backup. Get rid of him and leave the team in the hands of Mark Sanchez. Now I know Holmes will back healthy next year but I don't fully trust Hill and Gates and Kerley. Edwards is back and that's a good thing. i say bring him back at the start of next year and have him and Holmes as you're one two punch again at receiver. The running game I'm not sure what they want to do with so leave it as is right now.

The Jets need to figure things out in the offseason or next year will be another lost cause of a season just like this one was.

CY Goodbye. Dickey Traded to Blue Jays

Well it has finally happened. Only two months after winning the Cy Young Award in the National League, R.A. Dickey has been traded, pending a physical, to the Toronto Blue Jays. The following story is coming in courtesy of espn.com:

Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey has reached an agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays on a two-year, $25 million extension, pending a physical, that will allow Toronto and the New York Mets to complete their trade, sources tell ESPN's Buster Olney.

Dickey will be getting the dollar value that he had requested in failed extension talks with the Mets. Some of the money will be paid out immediately this year, along with his $5 million salary, in the form of a signing bonus to offset the difference in taxes between the United States and Canada. The sides are still haggling over how much money will be front-loaded, sources said.

News of an agreement was reported earlier by the Toronto Sun and FoxSports.com. 

ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin reported earlier Monday that the Mets will receive highly regarded catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud and Class A right-hander Noah Syndergaard from Toronto. The teams also will exchange catchers, with Josh Thole headed to Toronto and John Buck to the Mets.

The Blue Jays will include cash to lessen the Mets' responsibility for Buck's $6 million salary. Other prospects also will be included in the trade, a league source said. Before talks broke down with New York, Dickey sought a two-year extension worth at least $26 million on top of the existing amount owed. Dickey will join a formidable Toronto rotation that also is projected to include newcomers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle via the much-talked-about trade with Miami earlier this offseason, as well as Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero.

A journeyman pitcher who honed the knuckleball out of desperation and who was the first castoff to Mets minor league camp during spring training in 2010, Dickey at age 37 became a first-time All-Star, the franchise's first 20-game winner since Frank Viola and a Cy Young winner while composing a franchise-record 32 2/3-inning scoreless streak this past season. During 2012, he also climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and opened up in a memoir about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.

Dickey will become the fourth reigning Cy Young winner to be traded before the start of the next season, joining David Cone, Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens.

D'Arnaud is the centerpiece of the deal for the rebuilding Mets, although the 20-year-old Syndergaard is viewed as a potential front-line starter in future seasons. D'Arnaud hit .333 with 16 home runs and 52 RBIs in 67 games last season with Triple-A Las Vegas before his season ended June 25 when he suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee sliding into second base.


Here is another surprising stat about the Dickey trade. For the second offseason in a row, a Mets award winner has left the team after winning the award to go to another ball club. Jose Reyes won the batting title in 2011 with the Mets, then signed for the 2012 season with the Marlins. Another surprising not is that the teams in the deal switched catchers as well, with Josh Thole going to Toronto and John Buck coming to the Mets.

This may mean a few good things for the Mets. They may possibly get some more offensive stability out of the catcher position, which to be quite honest has been lacking ever since Mike Piazza left. Here is some more food for thought. As most people who follow the Mets can tell you, there are still a lot of holes left to be filled with this baseball club.Ever since 2006 the Mets have not had a solid middle infield or a solid outfield at all. As it sits right now, the corner infield is pretty much set for a long time with Ike Davis at first and David Wright at 3rd. As for 2nd base it will be a mix bag as of now of Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner, and Jordany Valdespin. As for shortstop it looks like Jordany Valdespin, and Rubén Tejada. Plus the outfield just lost not only Jason bay, who really hasn't done a thing while playing in New York, and Andres Torres, who signed back with the Giants. So now the Mets outfield consists of Mike Baxter, Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

If the Mets even want to possibly sniff being a 500 ball club next season there is a lot of work to be done. They need to find a consistent leadoff hitter who can fill the role everyday and get on base to get the offense kickstarted. They need outfielders who can play steady ball and finally they need a middle infield that won't possibly leave you scratching you're head. There is still a lot of offseason to go so things could change between now and April when the season starts, but in all honestly it doesn't look too good for the Mets in 2013.

Oswego Men's Hockey First Half Recap

Well the first half of the season is in the books for the Oswego State Men's Hockey team, and what a first half of the year it has been. The team has had everything in the first half, an 8-game winning streak, a two game loosing streak, Overtime heroics, hat tricks shut outs and two new members in the century point club. So just in cased you missed anything from the first half of the year, we got you covered as we take a look back at the first eleven games of the season.

As is tradition with Oswego, the season started off with an exhibition game, this time the opponent was the US Under 18 team. Oswego had lost in overtime to this same team four years ago, but this time around it was a different story as the Under 18 team skated away with a 2-0 win. Oswego kicked off the regular season with a two game homestand against Cortland and Elmira. Cortland was up first for Oswego and the Lakers stumbled out of the blocks but were able to recover and come away with a 7-4 victory. Andrew Hare gave up two quick goals and was given the hook in exchange for Dan Jones. The Laker offense took off after that scoring five unanswered goals in route to the win. Paul Rodrigues (two assists), Jon Whitelaw (goal two assists), Chris Ayotte (goal two assists), and Luke Moodie (goal two assists) all had big offensive nights. The next night the Soaring Eagles of Elmira came into town, and felt the wrath of an enraged Oswego team, to the tune of a 9-0 Oswego victory. Andrew Hare bounced back from the rough outing the night before with the 26 save shutout. Chris Muise (two assists), Jesse McConney (two assists), Zach Josepher (three assists) and Tyler Leimbrock (two goals) all had great nights, but they don't compare to the monster nights had by both Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie. Both guys put up five point nights, Moodie did it with two goals and three assists but Paul Rodrigues outdid him with four goals and an assist.

So after the brief homestand, the Lakers took their act on the road for a three game swing to start off November. The trip started with a two game visit to Brockport and Geneseo. First up was Brockport, and Andrew Hare kept up his hot goaltending by pitching his 2nd straight shutout in a 2-0 Laker win. Hare made 20 saves in the win and Zach Josepher and Luke Moodie provided the scoring punch in the victory. Next up was a trip to Geneseo, and to a lot of people's surprise this wasn't as tight checking a game as the night before. This game was an offensive explosion as Oswego walked away with a 10-1 win. Hare got the start again and allowed 1 goal on 27 shots, while the offense had ten different goal scorers in this hockey game. Paul Rodrigues (goal two assists), Jesse McConney (three assists), Tim Carr (goal assist), Chris Brown (goal two assists), Bobby Gertsakis (two assists), David Titanic (goal assist), Chris Muise (three assists), Luke Moodie (two assists), and Matt Singelton (two assists) each had multi-point games. Taylor Farris was the only Laker skater who didn't register a point. Oswego finished up the three game road trip with a 5-1 win over Morrisville on November 9th. A few guys had multi-point nights on that night, but the big story of the game was Luke Moodie, who's 2nd period powerplay goal made him the 49th member of the Oswego State 100 point club.

Oswego returned home for the start of a five game homestand right before thanksgiving with a visit from Buffalo State and Fredonia. Buffalo State came in first and gave Oswego a giant scare, jumping out t a quick 2-0 but the Lakers would rally back to come away with a narrow 5-4 win. The big story on the night was Paul Rodrigues 3rd period goal, as it gave him 100 career points helping him become the 50th member of the Oswego State 100 point club. So after the Buffalo State scare, Oswego had the Blue Devils of Fredonia come to town, but this game wasn't as much of a scare as Oswego skated away with a 7-1 win heading into thanksgiving. Once again Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie had huge games offensively, Rodrigues posted a six point night on a goal and five assists, while Luke Moodie threw in a hat trick to go along with two assists for a five point night.

So the team returned from thanksgiving break for one final home game in November against the Potsdam Bears, and it looked like the boys didn't skip a beat, blowing out the Bears 6-0. Andrew Hare made 330 saves in the shutout, and Eli Kim-Swallow connected for his first two goals of the year. Zach Josepher (goal two assists), Chris Carr (goal assist), Chris Muise (two assists), and Jesse McConney (two assists) also had big offensive nights. This would be the last regulation win for Oswego during the first half of the season. Once the calender switched to December, things took a slight downhill turn. The first opponent in the new month was arch rival Plattsburgh in the annual Whiteout game, and for the first time in three years Plattsburgh was able to come away with a regular season win in Oswego, skating away with a 2-1 win. Chris Muise scored the only Oswego goal in the first loss of the year for the Lakers. The final home game of the first half saw the Utica Pioneers come to town and for the 2nd straight game, Oswego fell, this time by a 3-2 score. The Lakers needed to find a way to break out of the two game loosing skid, as they took their act on the road for the final time in the first half. The destination was Geneva New York and the opponent was Hobart. Oswego jumped out to a 2-0 lead but they weren't able to hold it as Hobart was able to tie the game at the end of regulation. In need of a hero the game went to overtime, and with 16.6 seconds left Chris Brown stepped up and scored the winner, giving the Lakers a 3-2 victory to close out the first half of the year.

So with all that said and done, Oswego finished the first half of the year with a 9-2-0 record overall, and a 7-1-0 record overall in SUNYAC play. This record is good enough to have Oswego as the #2 ranked team in the entire country. The big story is that the team has been able to do this without the play of team captain Jon Whitelaw who has missed time due to an ankle injury. Leading the team in scoring all year has been his two linemates Paul Rodrigues and Luke Moodie. Moodie leads the team in goals with ten and is second in assists (10) and points (20), meanwhile Paul Rodrigues leas the team with 15 assists and 24 points to go along with six goals.

The team has seen a lot in the first half of the season, a two game losing streak, a overtime hero, an eight game winning streak, three shutouts, two members of the 100 point club, a hat trick and a four point game. If this first half of the year was any indication, the second half is going to be just as much fun!

Oswego Women's Hockey First Half Recap

With the first half of the 2012-13 hockey season in the books for the Oswego State Lakers, we figured now we be a great time to look back and see what has gone down in this first half of the year. It has indeed been an interesting first half for the team, especially considering the fact that due to a ruling coming down from the college, the roster size was cut in half. This was due to things beyond the control of the team and they have to make due with what they have. What they have has been good enough to get the team to a 6-5-1 record overall and even better a 6-2-0 record in ECAC West play. Things started off with an exhibition game against the Toronto Midget Aeros and a tough 2-1 loss. Regular season play kicked off with a New England swing against Castleton and New England College, a trip that ended without a win. Castleton beat the Lakers 3-0 and then Oswego skated to a 1-1 tie with New England College, with Lizzy Marks scoring the first goal of the year for the team.

Oswego would kick off the month of November with a home and home against the Utica Pioneers. First game was in Utica, with the Pioneers skating away with a 3-1 victory. The next night was the first home game of the year for the team, and it resulted in the first win of the season, a 5-3 victory. Bridget Smith picked up her first win of the year, while Mady Paul and Melissa Seamont had the big days offensively.  Next up for Oswego was a weekend home series against Potsdam which resulted in Back to Back Shutouts in the weekend series. Oswego got the first shutout with a 4-0 win behind Bridget Smith making 22 saves and scoring from Lizzy Marks, Mady Paul, Emma Smetaniuk, and Chelsea Hunt. Potsdam returned the favor to Oswego the next day, shutting the Lakers out 2-0, handing the Lakers its only other loss in conference play this season.

Next up for Oswego was a weekend road trip right before thanksgiving to Neumann college to take on the Knights, and exact more revenge for the playoff loss two years ago. Oswego walked away from the weekend with a pair of wins, the first one by a 4-2 score and game two was a 2-1 overtime win. The overtime hero was Leslie Jarvis, who connected for her first career goal. Oswego would return from the thanksgiving break for a Tuesday night home game against Hamilton. Emma Smetaniuk scored the lone Oswego goal in a 3-1 Hamilton win. Oswego's final three games of the first half came at home and all played in December. Its started off with a weekend series against Chatham University, with Oswego outscoring Chatham by a combined score of 10-1 in the two games. In the first game Olivia Boersen powered the offense with a  four point game in the 6-1 victory. The star of the game two 4-0 victory was freshman goalie Tori Trovato, who earned her first career win and first career shutout making 12 saves. The Lakers finished the first half with a tough 2-1 loss to Amherst at home with Jocelyn St. Clair scoring the only goal. Oswego finished with a first half record of 6-5-1 and 6-2-0 in conference.

The only two losses in ECAC west play were to Utica College (11/2/12) and Potsdam (11/10/12). Oswego has relied pretty heavily on Bridget Smith in Net, and she has not disappointed. In nine starts this year, Smith has posted a record of 5-3-1 with a 1.54 GAA, a .935 SV % and one shutout (11/9 vs. Potsdam). Tori Trovato has started two games this year and has a record of 1-1-0 with a 1.50 GAA, a .932 SV% and one shutout, her shutout and win coming on the same day against Chatham. As for Catherine Cote, she has seen action in one game this year, a loss against Utica at the Aud. Her record stands at 0-1-0 .893 SV% and a GAA of 3.00. Unfortunately for Cote, her season was cut short to just the one game, as she was shut down for the season with a shoulder injury that will require surgery. We wish her a speedy recovery from the injury.

With the lineup being as depleted as it was coming into the season, the big question was going to be who was going to lead this team? The question has been answered in a pretty big way. Melissa Seamont in scoring with 14 points on four goals and ten assists. Right behind her in scoring is team captain Olivia Boersen, who has 11 points on four goals seven assists. Leading the team in goal scoring this year has been Mady Paul who has five through the first half of the year. Aside from a few first from the goalies this year, there have been a few firsts on offense as well. This year we have seen the first career goals for Leslie Jarvis (11/18OT Winner at Neumann), Breanne Reith (11/17 at Neumann), Lizzy Marks (11/27 at New England College), and finally Bailee Goodon (11/17 at Neumann). Seamont and Boersen have had the best individual games this year, Boersen did it with a four point game against Chatham on December 1st with a goal and three assists. As for Seaomont, she has had two different nights of scoring three points, December 1st against Chatham, and November 3rd against Utica.

The second half of the season is going to be a tough one for Oswego. The Lakers resume the season with a weekend series at home on January 5th and 6th at home against St. Norbert. Next the team travels for its only road trip of the month to the north country to play the Plattsburgh State Cardinals in Plattsburgh on January 12th and 13th. Oswego then returns home for the start of a six game homestand starting with the Buffalo State Bengals making the trip to Oswego January 18th and 19th. Then Stevenson University makes the trip to the shores of Lake Ontario January 25th and 26th. Senior weekend in Oswego will wrap up the homestand on February 8th and 9th as the Soaring Eagles of Elmira come to town. Oswego finishes out the regular season on a two game road trip to Cortland on February 15th and 16th.

Will Oswego continue its hot streak of making the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row? It looks like it will happen again but only time will tell!

Could Greg McElroy Be Answer For Jets at Quarterback?

After the way things played out this past Sunday at MetLife Stadium it is a good question. If anybody who saw the game on Sunday can attest to it, Mark Sanchez had not only a bad day but has had a rough year. For the sake of the team, the fans, and just as important, for the sake of Mark Sanchez, I would give Sanchez the week off. He was getting booed pretty badly on Sunday. The big question now is who are the Jets going to go with as their starting quarterback this week against Jacksonville? Granted the Jaguars are a very weak team, so were the Cardinals last week and the Jets just squeaked by with the win.

As far as I'm concerned I would give Sanchez the week off. Mark should not be the starting quarterback this Sunday. One of the big reason I'm saying that is because of how bad he has played lately. The two biggest knocks against Sanchez's play have been how bad a game he has had the last two weeks playing New England and Arizona. Tim Tebow will be dressed and ready to go for this week so i would say give Tebow a start. Don't keep mixing the two QB's in like the Jets always do. We know what McElroy can do with one quarter under center, we saw that this past Sunday. I really do want to see what Tebow can do with this offense.

Here is what I would do if I was Rex Ryan. After the last few weeks Sanchez isn't cutting it. i would give him a game off, just to see how he reacts to it. maybe it will light a fire in him, if not for this year than hopefully for years to come down the road. As for this Sunday against Jacksonville, I would start Tim Tebow and have Greg McElroy as the backup. I need to know if picking up Tim Tebow was really the right move for the organization or not. Give Tebow a shot for more than just a few scattered plays.

Face facts the Jets really don't have a chance at making the playoffs this year. The last four games of the season are going to be a test to see what areas need to be improved with the football team. It may have to be a whole system overhaul from the coaching staff right down to the players. What this year has shown me is the Jets have no depth at all with their ball club. They overpaid for Holmes and Revis and brought in Tebow for some stupid reason. The team really had more holes to fill and failed to do so last offseason. Now would be a great time to see what you have available to you on teh current roster and see what you will need to look for during the offseason, so that way come draft and free agency time you can start fixing the holes and making this a playoff team once again. But as far as the rest of this season goes, sit Sanchez and see what else you have available at Quarterback.

Whiteout Weekend Not So Nice. Oswego Splits, Falls To Plattsburgh

The one weekend during the regular season Oswego Hockey fans look forward to more than any other is whiteout weekend. This years edition didn't disappoint. However the result coming out of the weekend was  a bit of a downer. Before things got going on the Whiteout game, the Potsdam Bears were the appetizer for the weekend. As expected going into the contest, Oswego showed they were ready to play and walked away with a 6-0 win on Friday night. The foloowing recap comes to us from the Oswego State Sports Information Department.

The top-ranked Oswego State men's ice hockey team was the beneficiary of two goals from Eli Kim-Swallow, as the Lakers defeated Potsdam, 6-0, Friday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena. Senior goalie Andrew Hare posted his third shutout of the season and eighth in his career after making 30 saves.

Luke Moodie got the crowd going early when he tapped in a pass from Paul Rodrigues. Rodrigues received the puck at the blue line after Zach Josepher ripped a pass from deep in the Oswego State defensive zone up the boards as Rodrigues got behind the defense. Rodrigues skated up the right wing before sending the puck through the slot to Moodie, who was crashing the net on the opposite side.

Potsdam nearly evened the score six minutes in when a shot from the point clanged off the left post into traffic, but the puck was cleared out of harm's way. The Bears later went on the power play following a Laker roughing penalty and hit their second pipe.

However, momentum swayed back in favor of Oswego State when Eli Kim-Swallow registered his first collegiate goal as his shot from the left faceoff circle while Oswego State was transitioning into its offensive zone to double the lead. Chris Muise earned an assist on the final marker of the frame at 15:53. This goal was by far the strangest goal of the year as it bounced over the head of goalie Austin Kreiser and in. BUt a goal is a goal no matter how it crosses the line.

The second period featured action going up and down the ice until the Campus Center fire alarms went off forcing the crowd of 2,750 to leave the rink with 2:28 remaining in the stanza. Officials decided to re-sheet the ice at that time as the teams had to leave the benches.

With the score still 2-0 heading into the final period, Jesse McConney rifled a pass through the neutral zone to Chris Carr just before he crossed the blue line. Carr skated in alone on Potsdam goalie Austin Keiser, and went top shelf with the shot for his second goal of the season to give the home team some breathing room. Josepher also earned his second assist of the night.

Midway through the period, Tyler Leimbrock added an insurance goal when he tapped in a cross-ice feed from David Titanic and Muise to make the score, 4-0, in favor of the Lakers. The goal also prompted the Bears to call timeout.

Oswego State netted its first power-play goal of the contest with 1:46 left in regulation when Bobby Gertsakis and Leimbrock fed Josepher for the one-timed blast from the right faceoff circle. Less than 30 seconds later, Kim-Swallow posted his second marker of the game with a slap shot in the slot that went top shelf. Chris Carr and Taylor Farris picked up assists on the play that made the score 6-0. Neither squad fared well on the power play, as the Lakers went 1-for-6 and the Bears went 0-for-4. Austin Keiser finished the game with 35 saves in the losing effort.

So now that Oswego had improved its record to 8-0-0 it was time for the biggest home game of the year, whiteout night finally arrived and rival Plattsburgh entered the Campus Center. The following game recap is provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department.

The top-ranked Oswego State men's ice hockey team had a late third-period surge, but fell short of completing the comeback as it suffered a 2-1 loss to seventh-ranked Plattsburgh  on Saturday night at the Campus Center Ice Arena. The game also marked the end of the first half of the SUNYAC schedule for both teams.

With the teams skating 4-on-4 in the early stages of the first period, Paul Puglisi blasted a shot along the ice from the center of the blue line that went between Andrew Hare's legs at 5:10. Jared Docking and Jake Mooney earned assists on the play. The Lakers killed off a two-player disadvantage for 49 seconds than skated another player down for the next two minutes, 37 seconds without allowing Plattsburgh to strike again.

Alex Brenton forced a turnover near the blue line while the Cardinals were fending off a bench minor for too many men on the ice. He skated in alone, and wristed his shot past Hare at 13:00 in the first period to put Plattsburgh ahead 2-0, which was the score at intermission.

A series of Plattsburgh penalties gave the Lakers a skater edge from 2:52 to 7:32, including two stretches of a 5-on-3 advantage that spanned 49 and 31 seconds, respectively, but were unable to get on the scoreboard. Oswego State had a chance late in the period when Paul Rodrigues had a point blank shot on Mathieu Cadieux, but ripped his shot off the right post.

Heading into the final period still trailing 2-0, the Laker penalty-kill unit fought off two more penalties in the first five minutes. Oswego State had back-to-back power plays midway through the frame following a pair of Cardinal hooking penalties. During the second power play, Cadieux made a series of strong saves to keep the Lakers off the board. However, with four seconds remaining on the second power play at 11:07, Bobby Gertsakis blasted a shot high that bounced off the glass back to the crease where Chris Muise buried the rebound to bring the sellout crowd to its feet.

Oswego State turned up the intensity from that point forward and rarely let the puck out of its offensive zone. The Lakers then pulled Hare with 1:03 remaining in regulation followed shortly by Plattsburgh calling timeout. However, Oswego State was unable to tie the game with the extra skater. The Lakers finished the game 1-for-8 on the power play, while Plattsburgh went 0-for-6, but scored the short-handed goal in the first period. Hare stopped 24 shots, including 13 saves in the first period, in his first loss of the season, while Cadieux finished the game with 34 saves.


There were a few things that made this night, and weekend for that matter, interesting and memorable. Friday night with about two and a half minutes left in the 2nd period the fire alarm went off in the campus center due to the accidentally burning of popcorn in the arena concession stand, leading to the arena having to be cleared. For those of us who remember it, it brought back memories of the 2009 whiteout game when Eric Selleck's glove caught fire while drying in the locker room. So a few Eric Selleck Chants were heard during the weekend because of that.

Now for the actual whteout game.Plattsburgh got an early jump on Oswego. The Lakers kicked things off physically fifteen seconds in with a great hit by Kyle Badham on Jared Docking behind the Plattsburgh net. The hit got the crowd really fired up but knocked Docking for a loop and he was down on the ice for a while. Whatever momentum from the opening seconds of the game Oswego might have had were cooled off by the long delay on the Docking apparent injury. To start the game off Oswego was making too many mistakes, the biggest ones being too many stupid penalties and a bad turnover by Jesse McConney on a powerplay leading to the 2nd Plattsburgh goal. After the way Oswego played Saturday night it will be a real shock if they are still the number one team in the coaches polls. This was the first regular season home loss to Plattsburgh for Oswego since 2009.

The Lakers return to action this weekend in non-conference games. First up will Friday night at 7pm against the Utica Pioneers, then Oswego hits the road for its final game of the first half of the year in Hobart to take on the Statesman at 7PM.

(Part of the story and the photo provided by the Oswego State Sports Information Department)

Oswego Women's Hockey Dominates Weekend Sweep of Chatham

This past weekend was one of total domination for the Oswego State Women's Hockey team. After a tough loss to Hamilton College last Tuesday, Oswego had a quick turnaround as Chatham University came to town for a two game weekend series. The first game was this past Saturday night and resulted in a dominating 6-1 win for the Lakers. Chatham actually jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after a goal from Morgan Becer at the 6:03 mark of the opening period. The Lakers offense woke up and found the back of the net at the 10:31 mark, after a beautiful roof shot by Megan Hagg for her 2nd goal of the year. Oswego took the lead for good with just under three minutes to go in the opening period thanks to Mady Paul's 3rd goal of the year. So after one period, Oswego had a 2-1 lead. The Laker lead would grow to 4-1 after two periods thanks to goals from Melissa Seamont, her 4th of the year, and Olivia Boersen, her 4th of the year. A pair of defenseman capped off the scoring in the 3rd period, as Jocelyn St. Clair scored her first of the year and Chelsa Hunt scored her 2nd of the season. Hunt followed Megan Hagg with a beautiful roof shot from just inside the faceoff circle, to capp off scoring in the 6-1 win.

Megan Buchanan took the loss for Chatham, allowing 5 goals on 29 shots. Bridget Smith got the win for Osweg, improving her record to 5-2-1, all while making 10 saves and allowing just the one goal.The two biggest producers offensively for Oswego were Melissa Seamont and Olivia Boersen. Seamont had a goal and two assists for three points, while Boersen had a goal and three assists for four points. Both teams went 0 for 3 on the power play. That wasn't the only exciting action this weekend. The two teams met again on Sunday afternoon as well.

Sunday Chatham played a bit better defensively, but it still wasn't enough, as the Lakers completed the sweep with a 4-0 win. Scoring started 1:25 into the hockey game as Mady Paul connected for her 4th of the year. Boersen and Seamont set the goal up, as those two were red hot over the weekend. Megan Hagg stretched the lead to 2-0 less than a minute later with her 3rd of the season. Paul found the back of the net for the 2nd time in the period, and her 5th goal of the year, at 5:51 of the 1st to give the Lakers a 3-0 lead. The 2nd period saw no scoring and the scoring for the afternoon was capped off by Bailee Goodoon's 2nd of the year at the 17:10 mark of the 3rd period to seal the 4-0 win.

Megan Buchanan again took the loss for Chatham allowing 4 goals and making 37 saves. Freshman Tori Trovato picked up her first win in college and first career shutout making 11 saves. Chatham went 0 for 2 on the powerplay while Oswego was 1 for 2 with the man advantage. Mady Paul (2 goals), Melissa Seamont and Olivia Boersen (2 assists each) were the leading point getters for Oswego.

Thanks to the BIG offensive weekends both girls had, Melissa Seamont and Olivia Boersen are the first two lady's to crack double digits in scoring this year. Seamont leads the team with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists, while Boersen is right behind her with four goals and six assists for ten points. Mady Paul now leads the team in goals with five. Oswego now stands at a record of 6-4-1 overall and 6-2-0 in ECAC West play. The Lakers cap off the first half of the season this saturday night December 8th at home against Amherst at 7PM.

(Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics)

Whiteout Night Has Arrived! #7 Plattsburgh vs. #1 Oswego

The night has finally arrived. It’s a night most college hockey fans in Upstate New York wait for every year. It’s the annual Whiteout game between Plattsburgh State and Oswego State. This rivalry dates back to the very first meeting between the two teams back in 1975, and in that time the two schools have played each other 104 times. Plattsburgh has the edge in the all-time series with a 68-32-4 record against the Lakers of Oswego. In fact, Plattsburgh is only one of two schools to have a winning record against Oswego in which the schools have played more than 30 times (Elmira is the other one), and Plattsburgh is the only SUNYAC team to have a winning record against Oswego.

Since the 2001-02 season, the Lakers and Cardinals have met nine times in the SUNYAC finals, including last year. Plattsburgh has won seven of the nine games. During regular season play, Plattsburgh has an advantage. Since 1999-2000, Plattsburgh has a record of 13-11-3 against Oswego, but the Lakers have won five of the last six meetings during the regular season (The only blemish on Oswego’s winning streak during that time span was a 2-2 tie at Stafford Ice Arena last year).

Each school has their own traditions for when the rival comes into town, dating back to 1990 when the Cardinal Hockey Booster Club began a tradition of throwing hundreds of tennis balls onto the ice after the first Cardinal goal was scored against the visiting Lakers. The idea to throw tennis balls was due in large part to the color of the tennis balls matching the Lakers road uniforms at the time and that the head coach of the Lakers was Don Unger, who was also the school’s tennis coach. The Lakers countered the tennis ball throwing with bagel throwing in 1998 after the Lakers shut out the Cardinals in Plattsburgh, denying fans the opportunity to throw the tennis balls. The idea behind bagels was that it was to signify that the Cardinals had zero on the scoreboard. When the Lakers retired their bright yellow road jerseys, Cardinals fans began throwing red tennis balls onto the ice, representing the team’s colors.

The bagel tossing at Oswego State lasted until the 2006-07 season when the Lakers moved from Romney Field House to the Campus Center Ice Arena. Prior to the start of the season, the athletic department had WTOP, the school’s campus television station, shoot a public service announcement with the team captains pleading to the fans to not throw bagels onto the ice. The reason behind the public service announcement was because, while the bagel throwing was a spectacle to behold, it was disruptive to the game and did more harm than good. The first time the bagels flooded the ice, the Lakers would be given a warning for delay of game. After the bagels were thrown for a second time, the Lakers were assessed a two-minute penalty. So now after moving into the campus center, the whiteout tradition began and has been a staple at Oswego State ever since.

Now before we really look ahead to tonight’s matchup, let’s take a look back at the three meetings between these two teams last season. The first meeting between the two clubs took place on December 2nd at Stafford Ice Arena in Plattsburgh, and ended with a 2-2 tie. Jon Whitelaw and Chris Ayotte scored for Oswego, while Plattsburgh got goals from Paul Puglisi and Alex Jensen. Round two took place at the Campus Center in Oswego back on February 17th, with Oswego skating away with a 3-0 victory. Andrew Hare got the shutout for Oswego, and scoring for the Lakers that night was Jesse McConney, Jon Whitelaw, and Chris Ayotte. The final meeting between the two clubs was for the SUNYAC Championship at the Campus Center back on March 3rd. This time there was no celebration for Oswego as Plattsburgh walked away with the conference title after a 3-2 win. Nick Jensen scored twice for the Cards as did Mark Grace. Oswego got goals from Jon Whitelaw and Kyle Badham, but it wasn’t enough.

So now that everybody is caught up on where these two teams stand, let’s take one final look at a breakdown for tonight’s action. There are a few key players to watch for either team tonight. For Oswego it’s their big weapons of Paul Rodrigues, Luke Moodie, Jon Whitelaw, Tyler Leimbrock and Andrew Hare. For Plattsburgh it’s their big weapons of Nick Jensen, Mike Grace, Mathieu Cadieux, Mark Constantine, and Luke Baleshta. Moodie and Rodrigues are the leading scorers for Oswego, while Mark Constantine and Luke Baleshta lead the scoring for Plattsburgh. Rodrigues and Moodie are 1 and 2 in the entire nation in scoring, Rodrigues leads the way with 21 points and moodie is right behind him with 20 points. In their career against Plattsburgh, Rodrigues has 8 games played with 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points.  As for Luke Moodie, in 8 games played he's got 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points. If he is able to come back and play tonight Jon Whitelaw has good numbers against the Cards. In 8 games played, Whitelaw has 7 goals and 1 assist for 8 points. Andrew Hare has pretty impressive numbers in goal against Platty, he is 1-1-1 with .945 SV%, a 1.43 GAA and 1 shutout. As for Plattsburgh, Nick Jensen has the best numbers against Oswego. In 5 games played, Jensen has 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points. Mike Grace also has good numbers against the Lakers. In 7 games played, Grace has 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points. As for Cardinal goaltending, Mathieu Cadieux carried the work load last year, and here is what he put up. Cadieux was 1-1-1 with a  .914 SV% and a  1.17 GAA

Here is how these two teams stack up (National Rankings in Division 3 hockey):
Team Offense:
Oswego: #1 with 6.38 Goals per Game
Plattsburgh: #17 with 3.98 Goals per Game

Team Defense:
Oswego: #2 with 1.28 Goals per Game
Plattsburgh: #8 with 1.68 Goals per Game

Power Play:
Oswego: #6 16 for 48 for 33.33%
Pplattsburgh: #11 13 for 48 27%

Penalty Kill:
Oswego: T-18 38 of 42 87%
Plattsburgh: #3 27 of 29 92%

Puck drops tonight at 7PM!

(Information provided for this story comes from Oswego State Athletics, USCHO.COM, Mike Kraft of the Oswegonian and collegehockeystats.net)