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The Oneonta State men's soccer team is still playing and will journey to the North Country this weekend to take on St. Lawrence in the NCAA Div. III sectional round.  The game is scheduled for Saturday with an 11am kickoff.  Oneonta (16-2-2) is playing in the round of 16 in its first venture into the Div. III tournament.  If they advance past the Saints on Saturday, they will play again on Sunday at 1pm with a trip to the national championship weekend in San Antonio on Dec. 2 & 3 on the line.

“We head back up to St. Lawrence, who have been ranked at No. 1 in the country this year and are unbeaten on the season with almost a perfect record,” said head coach Iain Byrne, who is in his 9th year.  “This should be an attacking game with both teams going forward at every opportunity.  If the rematch is more of the same as the first time we played them, then the crowd is in for a great contest.”

Oneonta played St. Lawrence the second game of the season back in Sep. and was defeated 3-2.  Junior Alex Shkreli (Bedford/Fox Lane) (Bedford/Fox Lane) and senior Raymond Fitzpatrick (Garden City/Garden City) (Garden City/Garden City) scored for Oneonta.  The two teams have met one other time in 2006 and Oneonta came out with a 4-0 victory. 

The Red Dragons advanced to the sectional round after a pair of wins last weekend at home in the opening rounds of the tournament.  The Red Dragons defeated Baldwin Wallace 2-1 in the first round before taking out Penn State Behrend 4-0 in the second round.

Junior Eric Fortier (Pleasant Valley/Arlington) (Pleasant Valley/Arlington) led the attack with a pair of goals and one assist.  He had the game-winner versus Baldwin Wallace on Saturday and then assisted on the game-winning goal on Sunday.

Senior Nick Lange (Freeville/Dryden) contributed one goal and an assist to the offense.  He converted a penalty kick to tie the game at 1-1 versus Baldwin Wallace and then had the assist on Fortier's goal versus Penn State Behrend.

“Getting past the first weekend was huge for us,” said Lange.  “The three other teams in our pod were quality teams that absolutely deserved to be in the NCAA tournament.  We knew what kind of team we were though and, if we rose to the occasion and played our best soccer, we could advance into the round of 16.”

Classmate and team captain Nicholas Gregg (Apalachin/Owego Free Academy) added, “Getting by the opening weekend was a major accomplishment for the team and school.  We work hard in training and it shows on the field.  Everyone is driven to perform and by coming out of the weekend with six goals and only giving up one, we are excited for the games to come.”

Senior Jon Kowalski (Glens Falls/Glens Falls) and juniors Jeff Christian (Middletown/Minisink Valley) (Middletown/Minisink Valley) and Dan Josepher (Manorville/Eastport/South Manor) (Manorville/Eastport South Manor) rounded out the scoring for the Red Dragons last weekend.

“I felt we had a huge advantage playing at home as we have been invincible here lately,” said Byrne.  “We had two great turnouts and a strong vocal support, and coupled with some great weather it really was a picture-perfect weekend for us.  Baldwin Wallace was everything we expected and made us fight right to the end. We showed great character coming from behind and for thirty minutes in the first half we played as well as we have all year.”

“We started the same way on Sunday against Penn State, and into a strong wind we managed to get some early goals, which took the pressure off. Once we got the third goal we knew it would be very difficult for them to come back and we managed to keep the clean sheet for the shutout.”

The Oneonta State men's soccer team is making its first appearance in the NCAA Div. III tournament in 2011 after winning its first SUNYAC title since joining the ranks of Div. III in 2006.  The Red Dragons received the conference's automatic berth into the field of 61 after defeating Brockport 1-0, in the SUNYAC championship game.

Prior to 2006, Oneonta competed in Div. I before officially joining Div. III.  During that time, Oneonta made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament from 1972-75.  In 1972, the Red Dragons played in the small college national championship game.  Also, during that time, Oneonta competed in the SUNYAC as a full member, eligible for the conference championship.  The last SUNYAC championship for Oneonta came in 1985 when they captured its only other tournament title.

Oneonta's last year in the SUNYAC was 1988, before rejoining the conference in 2007.  The Red Dragons did play a full conference schedule in 2007, going 11-0, but they weren't eligible for the SUNYAC tournament until 2008.  Since that time, Oneonta has qualified for the conference tournament, earning the top seed each of the last two years.

Oneonta will enter the sectionals 16-2-2 overall and riding a 17-game (15-0-2) unbeaten streak that includes 12 straight victories.  The 17 games without a loss is a program record, breaking the old record of 16 during the 2006-07 seasons.  The 12 straight wins is also the second longest winning streak for men's soccer, surpassing a streak of 11 consecutive victories during the 2007 season.  Oneonta's 16 wins also tied the single season program record, which has been reached twice in 1972 & 2006.

Their wins at home during the opening rounds extended its program record to 26 games without a loss on its home field, a record that started during the 2009 season.  During the unbeaten streak, Oneonta has put together an 18-0-8 record that includes 10 straight wins at home.  The 10 consecutive home wins ties the second longest such home winning streak set during the 1961-62 seasons.

As a team, Oneonta has outscored its opponents 50-16 while having a huge advantage in shots at 294-170.  Oneonta's stingy defense has held its opponents to less than one goal per game while recording eight shutouts.

Individually, the Red Dragons have six players who have registered double-digits in points led by Fortier.  Fortier, who was selected as the 2011 SUNYAC Player of the Year, has recorded 12 goals and four assists for 28 points including four game-winning goals.

Josepher is next with 11 goals and one assist for 23 points.  Josepher earned third team All-SUNYAC honors this fall.

Senior Gary Laronde (Wheatley Heights/Half Hollow Hills) (Wheatley Heights/Half Hollow Hills), who was the MVP of the SUNYAC Tournament, is third with 16 points on six goals and four assists.  Shkreli has 13 points on four goals and five assists.

2011 SUNYAC Rookie of the Year, Justin Rivera (Bay Shore/Bay Shore) (Bay Shore/Bay Shore), has 12 points on four goals and four assists.  Lange added himself to the double-digit group this past weekend and now has two goals and six assists for 10 points.

In the goal, it has been senior Maxwell Siegelman (Roslyn/Roslyn) (Roslyn/Roslyn) who has been the mainstay for the Red Dragons this fall.  Siegelman is 15-1-2 overall with four shutouts and a goals against average of 0.90.  He has logged 1,504 minutes and has made 44 saves.  Siegelman's 15 wins tied the single season record established in 1985 by Tom Carmichael.

Oneonta has never met either Babson College or Rutgers Camden, the other two schools at this weekend's sectional.

Byrne concludes, “At this stage of the tournament you will need to be at your best as every opponent is a top-notch outfit. The other semifinal pits the two number one seeds from their brackets in Babson and Rutgers Camden, so we have a formidable task ahead of us this weekend if we want to keep our run going.”