The Oswego State women’s soccer team celebrates its Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship.

Women’s Soccer

The Oswego State women’s soccer team experienced a banner year in 2011, posting its best record since 1996 with an overall mark of 11-8. The season culminated with a win over Brockport, 2-1, to get the 2011 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Upstate New York Championship for just the second time in program history while also avenging an earlier loss to the Golden Eagles.

Nikki Liadka ’14 and Shelly Bateman ’13 supplied a solid one-two scoring punch for Oswego State, as Liadka tallied 29 points (12 goals, five assists) and Bateman posted 19 points (six goals, seven assists).

Liadka was named to the All-SUNY Athletic Conference Second Team as well as the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Upstate New York Championship and Bateman received Third Team All-SUNYAC honors.

Men’s Soccer

The Oswego State men’s soccer team opened the 2011 season with its best record since 1999 at 5-1-0, but struggled down the stretch as it posted an overall
record of 5-10-1 and a conference record of 0-8-1.

Bryan Pacchiana ’12 earned third team all-conference honors for the third straight year, becoming the first Laker men’s soccer player to be a three-time All-SUNYAC selection since Scott Brown ’06 was selected in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Women’s Tennis

A young Oswego State women’s tennis team with just two seniors turned in a win over Wells to post a 1-13 record. The Lakers were led by Christine Ripple ’12 at No. 6 singles, as she finished with a record of 6-7.

Volleyball

The Oswego State volleyball team posted an overall record of 7-22 and a conference record of 0-8.

Stephanie Bailey ’15posted a team-high 206 kills and 98 total blocks, the highest since 2002.

Kyle Brockmann ’15 tied for medalist honors at the Oswego State Invitational.

Men’s Golf

The Laker men’s golf team posted a second-place finish at the Potsdam Quad and a pair of third-place finishes at the Oswego State and Elmira Fall Invitationals with identical scores of 320 before placing sixth at the rain-shortened ECAC Metro/Upstate Championships with a team score of 345.

Kyle Brockmann ’15 tied for medalist honors at the Oswego State Invitational with a round of 74. Brockmann also placed fourth at the Elmira Invitational with a score of 76, 13th at the St. Lawrence Invitational with combined rounds of 150, and tied for 30th at the Hamilton Invitational with a two-day total of 157.

Colt Tooley ’14 turned in the top individual result at the ECAC Championships with a round of 84 to tie for 22nd.

Cross Country

The Oswego State men’s and women’s cross country teams finished the 2011 campaigns strong as the men placed 14th out of 40 teams at the NCAA Atlantic
Regional Championships and the women finished 24th out of 36 squads. The Lakers also had solid showings at the SUNYAC Championships hosted by SUNY

Dylan Hardwick ’12 earned Second Team All-SUNY Athletic Conference honors.

New Paltz where the men erased more than 80 points from the 2010 team total to finish four points out of fifth place in sixth, while the women placed eighth.

Dylan Hardwick ’12 and Meghan Murphy ’15 were the top Laker finishers every week. Hardwick capped off the season with an 8K personal-best time of 26:13 to place 27th among 272 runners at the regional meet. He earned 13th place and Second Team All-SUNYAC honors at the SUNYAC Championships with a time of 26:42 to become the first Laker male harrier to receive all-conference honors since Weston Fellows ’06 in 2005.

On the women’s side, Murphy registered her best time and the eighth-fastest time in program history in a 6K distance with a time of 24:37.10 for 35th at the SUNYAC Championships.

Field Hockey

The Oswego State field hockey team won five of its final seven games to post a 7-10 overall record with seven of the losses coming in one-goal decisions, including three in overtime. The Lakers posted a SUNYAC record of 2-4 with wins over Morrisville and Oneonta. The latter was
Oswego State’s first victory over the Red Dragons since 2008.

Kelly Collins ’12 paced the squad offensively with 25 points on 11 goals and three assists. She also paced the SUNYAC in  points with six goals and an assist for 13 points in six league contests to be named first team all-conference for the second time. The 2008 SUNYAC Rookie of the Year ended her career with 80 career points (31 goals, 18 assists), which ranks fourth all-time on the program’s points list and third in career goals and assists.

Defender Ashley Collins ’14 joined Kelly Collins on the all-conference team as a second team pick after adding three goals and an assist.

Kelly Collins ’12 led the SUNY Athletic Conference in points this season.

— Adele Burk,
Sports Information Director

Even as a child, Brennan was no stranger to the golf course. His uncles were PGA professionals and held various positions around Central New York. “It was always around me as a young lad,” says Brennan. When other kids were playing soccer and football, Brennan was on the golf course. He lived next door and calls Sunnycrest “my little playground.”

The Syracuse native earned his bachelor’s, master’s and CAS degrees from Syracuse University, after serving in the U.S. Navy.

He joined the Oswego faculty in 1962 and coached the golf team until his retirement in 1989, racking up an impressive 11 consecutive SUNY Athletic Conference Golf Team Championships and 15 straight NCAA Division III Golf Championship appearances. He coached nine NCAA Golf All-Americans, including 1978 NCAA Division III Individual Champion Jim Quinn ’79 and PGA pro golfer Wayne Levi ’74.

His three straight undefeated seasons: (60-0) 1969, 1970, and 1971, culminated in Oswego taking second place in the 1971 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Golf Championships. His illustrious career would see him elected to the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame in 1997, one of only 55 in the nation at that time.

“Coaching depends on the expertise of the coach and an athlete’s skill and respect,” Brennan says. “Equally important is the support of the athletic department, college faculty, administration, student body and community.

“When I was at Oswego State from ’62 to ’89, Oswego State had all those facets in line and that’s why we were so successful and so was the whole athletic program,” he says.

After his retirement from Oswego in 1989, Coach Brennan and his wife, Phyllis, moved to Myrtle Beach, S.C., known to many as “the Golf Capital of the World.” He would go on to teach and coach at Coastal Carolina University for 10 years and another eight at the Carolina Golf Academy, which trains PGA golf professionals. In the ’90s, he directed the summer Myrtle Beach Junior Golf Program.

The coach still shares his golf expertise through articles in the local newspapers and talks at area civic groups. He devotes himself to watercolor painting with the same passion he brought to the game of golf. And whenever they can, he and Phyllis visit sons Scott and Terry in the Syracuse area.

Sometimes at the beach or a golf course he will run into a former player. They remember the coach and the lessons they learned from him. It’s no wonder. He has a very positive personal teaching philosophy: “It’s teaching these young people, men and women, the personal values they can use in their lives,” he says. “Too many coaches are more interested in winning or losing than teaching these young people life’s values.”