OSWEGO, N.Y. – Currently sitting just outside the final playoff spot in seventh place, the Oswego State women's soccer team (5-6, 2-4 SUNYAC) needs to close the season on a strong note. With three conference games remaining, it's Saturday's game against Brockport (9-1-2, 3-1-1 SUNYAC) that sticks out, making it the Oswego State Game of the Week.

The Lakers are coming off two losses this past weekend against Fredonia and Buffalo State, in which they were outscored 7-1. On the other end, the Golden Eagles went 2-0 last week against SUNY Canton and Geneseo, winning 4-0 and 1-0, respectively.

The two defeats were a huge setback for the Lakers, who had just picked up two conference wins the weekend before to move to .500 in State University of New York Athletic Conference play. Their 2-4 conference record leaves them tied with Buffalo State for the last playoff spot, but a 4-0 loss to the Bengals on Saturday puts them behind Buffalo State in the standings.

Junior captain Nikki Liadka (Liverpool, N.Y.) says the team will be ready to rebound this upcoming weekend.

“We obviously want to come out with a win,” Liadka said. “We are finally coming together as a whole team and as long as we continue to work together and keep communicating with each other, we will be able to accomplish anything.”

Before they match up with Brockport at 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Lakers take the field against Geneseo on Friday. The Blue Knights finished 14-4-2 last year, but are off to a 0-9-2 start to the 2012 season. Oswego State's other remaining conference contest is against Cortland, which is 5-0-1 in the SUNYAC.

Assuming a split for these two games, the Lakers will need a good result against the Golden Eagles to qualify for the postseason. Liadka says the team always gets fired up to play Brockport.

“In some ways, we consider Brockport to be like us,” Liadka said. “We have the same style of play and usually are considered the underdogs. It's always a good game when we play them and the outcome comes down to who wants it more. ”

In 2011, the Lakers dropped a 2-1 decision against Brockport during the regular season. However, they avenged their loss with a 2-1 victory over the Golden Eagles in the ECAC Upstate Championship.

Junior captain Liadka scored both goals in the championship game, and is confident the Lakers can triumph again.

“I have confidence that our team will be able to pull off the win,” Liadka said. “We beat them in the ECAC final and since then we haven't stopped working on getting better. We have improved tremendously from last year, and I'm excited to go out and play them with this new team.”

Oswego State has lost two consecutive games twice this season, and the Lakers rebounded with a win both times. Liadka says this weekend will be the defining one for the 2012 season.

”We need to win these games to seal a spot in the playoffs for our team,” Liadka said. “We haven't had a home game since the beginning of the season, so we especially want to protect our home field.”

In addition to Oswego State hosting this game, live stats will be available here.