Volleyball Manages Split at Potsdam

The Oswego State volleyball team came away from this weekend's Victory Promotions Tournament in Potsdam, N.Y. with a 2-2 record. The Lakers (2-6) began play Friday with a straight-sets loss to eventual tourney champ Clarkson (6-2). Oswego State then evened their record on the day when they easily defeated Regis College 25-13, 25-16, 25-13.

St. Lawrence (7-1) began Saturday's action by earning their second straight-set win over Oswego State in as many weekends. The Lakers finished out their schedule with a 3-1 victory over Buffalo State (2-6). Amanda Cipriano (pictured) was the only Laker picked for the All-Tournament team.

Top-Seed Wolverines End Clarkson's Season

The Michigan Wolverines shut Clarkson out 2-0 Saturday night in the East Regional final in Albany. Michigan will now travel to Denver to play in their first Frozen Four since 2003. The Wolverines will face the winner of Notre Dame and defending national champion Michigan State on Apr. 10. Meanwhile, former Oswego State coach George Roll and the Golden Knights will return to Potsdam. The Knights have not made the national semifinals since 1991.

Clarkson Advances to Regional Final

The Clarkson Golden Knights defeated St. Cloud State 2-1 Friday in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal in Albany. The win marked Clarkson's first NCAA tournament victory in 11 years. Coach George Roll and the Knights will face top-seed Michigan tonight at 7 p.m. The Wolverines advanced to the regional final with a 5-1 thrashing of Niagara. Hobey Baker favorite Kevin Porter tallied a carer-high four goals in the victory.

Clarkson Gets At-Large Bid

Former Oswego State head coach George Roll and his Clarkson Golden Knights have received an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament.  The Knights are the third seed in the East region and will open against St. Cloud State Friday.  Michigan is the number one seed in the East.  New Hamshire, North Dakota, and Miami (OH) are the other top seeds in the field of 16.

The bracket was unveiled Sunday morning and contained a surprising entrant.  The Wisconsin Badgers received a bid despite finishing below .500 (11-12-5), winning one out of their last five games, placing sixth in their conferencing, and getting swept in the WCHA quarterfinals.  News of Wisconsin's selection even made the front page of ESPN.com (for about ten minutes).

Minnesota State, Mankato was not invited to the dance despite forcing three overtimes against tourney-bound Minnesota in the WCHA playoffs (winning one).  The Mavericks also went 2-1-1 in four regular-season meetings with Wisconsin.

Clarkson Ousted in OT

The Clarkson Golden Knights were eliminated in the ECAC quarterfinals Sunday by the Colgate Red Raiders. The Knights were the top-seed and defending tournament champions. They will now have to rely on an at-large bid to get into the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Colgate advances to face #2 Princeton in Albany on Friday.

On the D-III front, the Frozen Four is set. Plattsburgh and Elmira are both making the trip to Lake Placid to face each other in the semifinals. The other semifinal pits St. Norbert against Norwich. Those games take place Saturday with the winners playing Sunday.

The Lakers Are Done, But Clarkson Rolls On

Oswego State may have played their final hockey game this season, but a former Laker head coach still has his club in the thick of the division I playoff race. Clarkson's George Roll has led the Golden Knights to a 20-10-4 record in his fifth season at the helm. This year, the Knights won the Cleary Cup, awarded to the regular season champion of the ECAC, for the first time since 2001 with a 15-4-3 conference mark. Roll also earned his 200th career victory on Nov. 10 when the Knights beat Princeton 6-2. Clarkson was an impressive 14-1-1 on their home ice at the Cheel Arena this season (WNYO Sports was there for the lone loss).

WATCH/LISTEN TO THE KNIGHTS

The Golden Knights earned a bye into the ECAC quarterfinals as the top seed. They will host eighth-seeded Colgate, who eliminated Clarkson arch-rival St. Lawrence in the opening round. The best-of-three series begins Friday night at 7 p.m. You can hear Cool 95.3 FM's Bob Ahlfeld call the game on the web by clicking here. The student broadcast from WTSC 91.1 FM The Source can be heard here. You can even pony up eight American dollars and watch WCKN-TV's video feed combined with Ahlfeld's play-by-play over at B2Networks. Live stats will also be available here.

SERIES INFO

Clarkson and Colgate went toe-to-toe for 130 minutes this season. They combined for two goals as they skated to two ties. Inside College Hockey illustrates Clarkson's offensive struggles against Colgate in their latest power rankings, "The Golden Knights would like to watch tape of the goals they've scored against Colgate goalie Mark Dekanich in the last four years. The problem is, that tape would only last about 55 seconds."

Senior forward Steve Zalewski was the only Knight to score on Dekanich this season. He is the younger brother of Oswego State defenseman Rich Zalewski. Overall, Clarkson is 4-2-5 vs. Colgate under George Roll, including an ECAC semifinal victory in 2004. Colgate is just two seasons removed from their own ECAC regular season crown.

GEORGE ROLL

Clarkson coach George Roll took his first head coaching job with the Oswego State Lakers in 1997. He inherited a club that had finished a game over .500 the year before. In his first season, the Lakers achieved their best record in nearly a decade, finishing 17-13-2. Roll was named SUYAC Coach of the Year by his peers. Five years later, the Lakers won their first SUNYAC title in 12 years and earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Roll was named SUNYAC Coach of the Year again, becoming the first Laker coach to earn the honor twice.

Oswego State would advance to the 2003 National Championship to play Norwich after beating Wentworth and Middlebury. The Lakers led 1-0 in the third period on the Cadets' ice, but Norwich netted two goals before the final buzzer to take home the title. Oswego's impressive run earned Roll the head spot at Clarkson, where he had previously served as an assistant. Roll's success has continued there, leading the Golden Knights to the 2007 ECAC Tournament Championship and the 2008 ECAC Cleary Cup. This season, the Knights are in good position to earn consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years.

Ryan Maloney

Clarkson comes to "The Z" looking for 3rd straight W

The Oswego State women's basketball team hosts Clarkson (2-4) tomorrow night at the Max Ziel Gymnasium. The Lakers (3-2) and Golden Knights appear to be headed in opposite directions as Oswego State has lost their last two while Clarkson has prevailed in their last pair. Clarkson began the season with a string of four losses while the Lakers started 3-0.

The two teams share one common opponent. Clarkson lost 76-44 to Potsdam on Nov. 27. Oswego State lost to the Bears 84-70 three days later. Knights leading scorer Monica Thomas was just 1-for-8 from the field with five points in Clarkson's loss. Laker shooting percentage leader Sarah Lombard shot just 1-for-6 in Oswego State's loss. She has missed just 9-of-29 shots on the year.

Both teams came into the 2007-08 season with new coaches. Tracy Bruno came to the Lakers after serving on the staff at Hillsdale College. KJ Krasco was hired at Clarkson after two seasons as an assistant with cross-town rival St. Lawrence. The Knights are led by the play of their back court as 10 of their 13 players are listed as guards, including Thomas (9.3 PPG). The top scorer for Oswego State is also a back court player, senior guard Sam Driscoll (12.6 PPG).

Clarkson's roster features two former Central New York high school standouts. Freshman Lauren Pluchino spent last season in the Liverpool Warriors' back court. Sophomore Michelle Reddinger is a former front court force for C.W. Baker.

Ryan Maloney

Jinx! Clarkson's 20-game home unbeaten streak snapped

WNYOsports.com made their Cheel Arena debut Friday night, a 4-1 loss for the host Clarkson Golden knights. #10 St. Cloud State scored four goals on just 13 shots.

Sophomore goalie Jase Weslowsky (pictured) stopped 32 shots and improved upon his already-stellar .936 save percentage and 1.72 GAA (I'm not doing the math to see where he's at now!).

The Huskies were paced by two goals from Ryan Lasch, who now has 10 markers on the season. Lasch extended his streaks of games with a goal and multiple points to six, and games with at least one point to seven. Don't expect his name to drop off the INCH Hobey trackler anytime soon.

Garrett Roe also netted his ninth tally to stay within reach of his teammate for the distinction of the nation's leading scorer. Clarkson blue-liner Bryan Rufenach got his first collegiate goal late in the third to ruin Weslosky's shutout bid. The Huskies added an empty netter in the final minute for the final score.

Ryan Maloney

French Fries You Thought Were at the Bottom of the Bag, But When You Reached in There Was Nothing...and You Were Quite Pissed About It

Got to meet Clarkson coach George Roll after the game. He recently joined an elite club of coaches with his 200th career victory. He won 119 of those games in his seven years as coach of the Oswego State Lakers.






Andy Petrus was one of the linemen tonight. He is the man who whistled Oswego State for a penalty in the 2006 SUNYAC final against Plattsburgh after a bagel was tossed onto the ice in the third period.

Try The Cheel, It's Delicious

I will soon make my way to Potsdam, NY (Oswego isn't quite cold enough). Tonight, I will see my first D-1 hockey game as Clarkson hosts St. Cloud, a battle of two top 10 teams. The Golden Knights play in Cheel Arena. I'm told that Cheel was the prototype for the Campus Center and many other college hockey rinks. Take a look:

For more on Clarkson hockey, check out Clarkson Hockey Fans. More after the game.

Ryan Maloney