For the third time in the last four years the SUNY Oneonta men reign supreme in the SUNYAC after capturing the conference title today at home versus its rival from SUNY Cortland.  In the end, the host Red Dragons proved to be the better team today with a 2-1 victory to secure its fourth straight berth into the NCAA Division III tournament, which begins next weekend at campus sites around the country.
 
"It was a great crowd and an entertaining game," said head coach Iain Byrne, who tied Hall of Fame coach Garth Stam for the all-time lead in NCAA tournament berths at Oneonta.  Stam guided the Red Dragons to four straight tournament appearances from 1972-75.
 
The victory for Oneonta (18-0-2) kept them unbeaten for the season while establishing a program record of 20 games without a loss.  The record of 19 games without a loss was tied this past Wednesday when the Red Dragons defeated SUNY Geneseo, 4-0, in the SUNYAC semifinals.  The record was established in 2011, which is the year that Oneonta made a run all the way to the national semifinals.  The 18 wins to date also tied the program record set in 2011.
 
Today's championship was Oneonta's fourth tournament title, which is added to its previous four SUNYAC championships to give them eight overall.
 
Today's match was the fourth meeting all time in the SUNYAC tournament between the two rivals and first since 2009.  The two were an even 1-1-1 in the first three meetings with Cortland (14-4-1) unbeaten (1-0-1) in the last two meetings.  The last victory for Oneonta over its rival in the tournament came in 1985 when they defeated Cortland, 3-0, to win the conference championship.
 
Oneonta finished the game with an 11-6 advantage in shots and a 9-4 edge in corner kicks.  Despite outshooting Cortland in the first half, 8-1, the game was deadlocked at one goal apiece.
 
"Although it was not our best performance we managed to close out the game against a tough opponent." Byrne remarked.
 
SUNYAC tournament Most Valuable Player, junior Jake Sutherland (Syracuse/West Genesee), lifted the Oneonta offense today with a pair of goals.  He gave Oneonta a 1-0 lead in the 11^th minute on a tremendous individual effort that led to his score.
 
Sutherland carried the ball into the box and was battling with a Cortland defender.  As he moved by the first defender he lost the ball momentarily after it pin balled off the second defender right back to Sutherland.  From there he was able to get a shot off that traveled along the ground past the keeper into the lower right corner of the goal.
 
The lead was short lived for Oneonta as Cortland came back less than 80 seconds later to tie the game on its only shot of the first half.  All-Tournament selection, Robby Reiser, collected a loose ball inside the left side of the box before setting up to bend a shot into the right upper 90.  Reiser was joined by teammates Darren McCormack and Sean Streb on the All-Tournament Team.
 
Cortland asserted itself in the second half and actually generated three shots in the first 20 minutes, two of which were on cage.  Senior keeper, Vincent Pellegrino (Baldwin/Baldwin), was up to the task and made the stops.  Pellegrino made four saves today to record his 14^th win of the season.
 
The tie was finally broken in the 67^th minute on an Oneonta corner kick.  Sophomore Anthony Passiatore (South Setauket/Ward Melville) took the kick from the left corner.  He sent a perfect ball into the goal area where Sutherland got his head on the ball and put it by the keeper for the 2-1 lead.
 
"We've been playing great as a team all season," said Sutherland after the match.  "We are looking forward to the NCAA tournament and continuing our streak going."
 
Oneonta nearly made it 3-1 two minutes later on a header by Dylan Williams (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) that Cortland keeper, Tim Beauvais, had to make a diving stop on.
 
In the waning minutes of the match, Cortland had one last dangerous opportunity that Pellegrino denied in the 87^th minute.
 
Joining Sutherland as All-Tournament selections were Pellegrino, junior Matthew Matteo (Millerton/Webutuck) and sophomore Hans Purtell (Johnson City/Johnson City).
 
With its automatic berth into the field of 62 teams for the NCAA tournament, Oneonta will learn when and where they will play next on Monday afternoon when the NCAA announces the tournament field live on NCAA.com beginning at 1:30pm.  The Red Dragons, with its standing as the No. 1 team in the East Region stand an excellent chance of hosting next weekend for the first and second rounds.
 
Byrne concluded, "We are entering the NCAA tournament with great confidence and belief.  We are looking forward to finding out whom our next opponent will be."
 
Photos from today's game can be found on
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