Box Score The cold temperatures did nothing to cool off the SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team today, as they defeated visiting Nichols College, 2-0, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  The Red Dragons remained one of two unbeaten squads still remaining in Division III with today's win that also advanced them into the "Sweet 16" for the second time in the last four years.  Messiah, who is the defending national champion, defeated Morrisville today, 1-0, to keep their record unbeaten at 20-0-1.
 
Oneonta (19-0-2) received a first round bye into today's contest and hosted Nichols (15-3-4), the champions of the Commonwealth Coast Conference.  The two teams battled into the latter part of the contest before the Red Dragons pushed two goals across within a span of 1:30.
 
The 19^th win for Oneonta also established a single season record, passing the mark of 18 from 2011 when the Red Dragons advanced to the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
 
"It's winter soccer and it's harder to score," said coach Iain Byrne, who was selected as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year last week.  "We had a couple of great chances to score in the first 10 minutes but we didn't convert."
 
The opening 10 minutes definitely belonged to Oneonta, as most of the play was in the Nichols end of the field.
 
Four minutes into the match, junior Dylan Williams (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) redirected a cross that went high.  During the next two minutes, senior Colin Volpe (Commack/St. Anthony's) had two chances, one of which was saved by Bison keeper, Jeremy Nash, and the second blocked.  Both shots were well inside the box.
 
"We knew coming into the tournament that the games from here on out will not be easy," said senior captain Mitchell Cain (Marcy/Whitesboro) who was a freshman on Oneonta's Final Four team in 2011.  "We came out flying and were able to create multiple chances early."
 
Nichols' first shot in the match came in the 17^th minute and was wide of the goal.  Two minutes later, the Bison earned its only corner of the contest and was punched out by Oneonta keeper Vincent Pellegrino (Baldwin/Baldwin).  The ball looked to catch Pellegrino a little off guard as he reacted a bit late before getting pushing the ball away to the top of the box.
 
The two team headed into halftime knotted at 0-0.  The Red Dragons registered eight of its 23 shots in the game in the opening half of play while gaining four corner kicks.
 
After a David Melanson shot went high for Nichols in the 49^th minute, Oneonta began to reassert itself offensively.
 
From the 53^rd minute until the 61^st minute, Oneonta generated some opportunities that could have resulted in a couple of goals.  The first was by Cain who had a shot sail wide from inside the box.  Freshman Cory Santangelo (Sayville/Sayville) had two opportunities including one that just was wide of the left post on a redirect of a cross from junior Jake Sutherland (Syracuse/West Genesee).  Sutherland had a header that was saved by Nash in the 59^th minute.
 
"In the second half we got on top and finally were able to breakthrough," commented Byrne.
 
And breakthrough they did with goals in the 84^th and 85^th minutes by Santangelo and Sutherland.
 
Santangelo was able to convert a pass from sophomore Hans Purtell (Johnson City/Johnson City), who made a great play to move by a defender and play the ball off the end line to Santangelo, who was unmarked in the box.  Santangelo just had to push the ball into the open goal, as the keeper moved out to intercept the cross.  The goal for the SUNYAC Rookie of the Year was his team-leading 13^th of the season.
 
"Once Cory scored I knew we would get another," stated Cain.
 
Sutherland gave Oneonta a 2-0 lead when he headed in a service from sophomore Anthony Passiatore (South Setauket/Ward Melville) on a corner kick.  The Red Dragons earned the corner after Sutherland rifled a shot that was tipped by the keeper off the post.
 
Nash finished the contest with eight saves while Pellegrino made one stop in goal for Oneonta.  Pellegrino is now 15-0-1 while picking up his 12^th shutout of the season.
 
"It was a great experience getting to the next round of the tournament," said 10^th year Nichols coach Chris Traina.  "We knew what to expect and I tip my hat to Oneonta.  I am very proud of my team.  We were able to frustrate their attack and we created a few chances of our own, but fell short.  I wish Iain and Oneonta the best of luck."
 
Byrne concluded, "Nichols played us very tough, but we kept our composure.  We look forward to the sectional round next weekend."
 
Oneonta will receive word about where they will be playing next weekend later tonight or early tomorrow.  They will definitely be playing the winner of the Franklin and Marshall/Rochester match at F & M.  The game will be played next Saturday, Nov. 22.
 
The four squads that survive next weekend's sectional round will advance to the NCAA national championship weekend in Kansa City, MO scheduled for Friday & Saturday, Dec. 5-6.