Cortland/Homer suffered its fourth straight loss Monday, as the Golden Eagles fell to Oswego 6-3 at the J.M. McDonald Sports Complex. Oswego scored twice in the opening minute and 26 seconds of the game to put Cortland/Homer on its heels early.
After the rapid start, Oswego scored twice more before the first period ended and carried a 4-0 edge into intermission. After getting jumped on early, Cortland/Homer head coach Alex Rosato believed his team needed the rest the intermission provided.
“I thought the energy in the locker room was good coming out,” Rosato said. “To their credit, they had a great first shift there and I think it was just slow going from there. The reset happened at the first intermission. I felt like they needed that break to reset. We put a lot of it back on the older kids too, we (the coaches) didn’t do a whole lot of talking.”
The Golden Eagles came out in the middle period with a purpose. Cooper Swartz netted the first goal on a shorthanded rush to make it 4-1. Oswego responded with Gavin Ruggio pushing the margin right back to four. Two minutes later Cortland/Homer got a powerplay goal from Finn Thomas to try and march back into it. Another goal from Thomas to begin the third inched the the Golden Eagles within two, but that was as close as they’d get. Oswego’s Mason Donabella put the game all but out of reach with his goal with 8:05 to play.
Despite the fact it was unable to rally all the way back, Cortland/Homer won the final two periods 3-2. That response was something that Rosato is viewing as another step forward for his team.
“This is the first time where I felt we pulled together and were able to find something in the latter part of the game,” Rosato said. “I credit a lot of that leadership, I think they do a wonderful thing. Cooper (Swartz), Bodey (McGrath), Brendan (Andrews) and even Alex Votra, who is kind of a quiet leader in his own right, does great. There is a lot of juniors out there too, Finn Thomas, Owen (Rizzo) countless people. We have a lot of leadership on this team and I’m sure I missed a lot of them. The message after the first period was simple, it’s one thing to lose a game but that’s not us. By and large we saw a different team out there and that’s a piece of the puzzle. We have to keep building.”
Moving forward, Cortland/Homer is still looking to figure out how to play a full three periods consistently. Rosato knows his team is capable of it, but they’ll have to keep improving to get there.
“I think first and foremost, they have to believe,” Rosato said. “They have to look themselves in the mirror, and myself for that matter, and we have to realize everything has to better. We don’t have a margin for error that some other teams may necessarily have. It doesn’t mean we’re not capable. We have a lot of talent in there, and we’ve shown spurts of it. We just have to come with the realization and the mindset that when things don’t go our way, we’ve got to snap back, keep our eye on the prize and put a good 51 minutes of hockey together.”
The Golden Eagles next chance for their first win will come at 6 p.m. Thursday when they face Auburn at Casey Park Ice Rink.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
TULLY 3, MANLIUS PEBBLE HILL 0
Kaylynne Bennett and Anna Lund again paced Tully in a sweep, with Bennet going for 13 kills, four aces, 13 digs and an assist and Anna Lund contributing 25 assists, 11 digs, two kills, five aces and a block in the Black Knights’ 25-14, 25-14, 25-22 win.
Maddy Lund added 10 digs and an assist, Rowan Usherwood pitched in eight digs and five kills and Ella Lund had two kills, two aces, two blocks and two digs. Elaina Iozzo (five digs), Molly Verbanic (four kills, three blocks, two digs), Karissa Olender (three digs), Adeline Russ (two aces, two digs), Susan Kuty (two digs), Evelyn Chatfield (two digs) and Teagan Lake (one dig) also contributed in Tully’s big win.
FABIUS-POMPEY 3, DERUYTER 1
Chelsey Prince topped DeRuyter with 11 digs, eight kills and an ace in DeRuyter’s 19-25, 19-25, 25-22, 14-25 loss.
Graycie Barber added 11 digs and two kills, Annabelle Stanton recorded 13 assists, two digs and a kill and Molly Amidon had nine digs, a kill and two aces. Rebecca Amidon (six digs, two kills, three aces), Erin Bragg (six digs, two aces), Payton Near (three digs) and Angelena Rodriguez (one kill) also contributed for the Rockets.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BOYS BASKETBALL
Cincinnatus at Cortland, 6:45 p.m. today
Marathon at Union Springs, 7 p.m. today
Groton at Moravia, 7 p.m. today
Dryden at Lansing, 7 p.m. today
Brookfield at DeRuyter, 7 p.m. today
Homer at Fowler, 6:45 p.m. Wednesday
Tully at Fabius-Pompey, 7 p.m. Wednesday
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Cortland at Oswego, 6:45 p.m. today
Union Springs at Marathon, 7 p.m. today
Moravia at Groton, 6:30 p.m. today
Lansing at Dryden, 7 p.m. today
Madison at Cincinnatus, 6 p.m. Wednesday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Stockbridge Valley at Cincinnatus, 7 p.m. today
BOYS WRESTLING
Chittenango at Cortland, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Jordan-Elbridge/Port Byron at Homer, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Marathon at Tioga, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Moravia at Groton, 5 p.m. Wednesday
Whitney Point at Dryden, 6 p.m. Wednesday
Southern Hills at Phoenix, 6 p.m. Wednesday
BOWLING
Weedsport at Homer, 3:30 p.m. today at Hi-Lanes
Groton at Watkins Glen, 4 p.m. today at Harborside Lanes
