The road to the NCAA Division III national championship weekend for the SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team will make a stop in Haverford, Pa. this weekend, as the Red Dragons play in the sectional round at Haverford College.  Oneonta will play MIT on Saturday at 1:30pm.  The sectional championship will take place on Sunday with a 1pm scheduled kick-off.
 
Oneonta is reaching the sectional round for the second straight year and third time in the last five years after taking care of CCNY and Rutgers-Camden last weekend in the opening rounds of the tournament at home.  The Red Dragons easily advanced past CCNY, 7-0, in the first round before shutting out Rutgers, 2-0, in the second round.
 
"This is the fourth straight NCAA appearance and the second consecutive sweet sixteen match for our senior class," said Head Coach Iain Byrne.  "We have experience at this level and know what to expect.  MIT is having a tremendous year and will be a very difficult opponent. We remember playing them in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 when they were a terrific young team, so I expect it will be an attacking match and entertaining to watch."
 
Oneonta enters the round of 16 with an overall record of 16-3-1 and winners of its last eight matches.  Seven of those contests have been shutouts by the Red Dragons, as they have kept opponents out of range.  This is the third time in the last five years that Oneonta has posted at least 15 wins.  Last year they recorded a program record 21 during its run to the national championship weekend.
 
"It feels great to be back in the sweet 16," said senior Captain Dylan Williams (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury).  "It's going to be hard weekend, with three other proven teams, but we're confident and ready for the challenge."
 
The Red Dragons earned its NCAA tournament berth after winning the SUNYAC tournament for a fourth time in the last five seasons.  The Red Dragons defeated Plattsburgh, 3-0, in the semifinals before defeating Brockport by the identical score in the championship game.
 
This past weekend, Oneonta hosted the opening round of the tournament where they welcomed CCNY, Rutgers-Camden and Eastern to Red Dragon Field.  The Red Dragons used its attacking style to move past both CCNY in round 1 and Rutgers-Camden in the second round.
 
In its 7-0 win against CCNY, Oneonta controlled the tempo from the opening whistle.  Seniors Jared Van Brunt (Sayville/Sayville) and Zef Saljanin (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) each scored a pair of goals in the victory.  Five of Oneonta's goals came off headers, as the Red Dragons made the most of restarts and corner kicks.
 
When asked about this season, Williams stated, "We definitely struggled early.  I think we panicked a bit and it showed in some of our early results.  Right now we are playing our style and making teams adjust to us and it's paying off."
 
Oneonta is making its fifth straight NCAA appearance since rejoining the ranks of Division III in 2006 and becoming eligible for the NCAA tournament in 2008.  In 2011, in its first Division III tournament, the Red Dragons advanced all the way to the national championship weekend in San Antonio.
 
This is Oneonta's ninth NCAA tournament appearance overall.  Prior to 2006, Oneonta competed in Division I & II before officially joining Division III.  During that time, Oneonta made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament from 1972-75.  In 1972, the Red Dragons played in the first Division II national championship game.
 
Overall, Oneonta has scored 50 goals while holding its opponents to just nine.  The Red Dragons have tied its single season program record of 14 shutouts set last season.  The Red Dragons currently stand sixth in Division III with a goals against of 0.42.  Oneonta also has a huge advantage in shots 379-122 and corner kicks 141-64.
 
Individually, the Red Dragons have six players who have registered double-digits in points including four seniors, one junior and a sophomore.  Senior Jake Sutherland (Syracuse/West Genesee) leads this group with 18 points on seven goals and four assists.  Sophomore Cory Santangelo (Sayville/Sayville) is next with 16 points on seven goals and a pair of assists.   Van Brunt, who scored three goals over the weekend, moved up to third in scoring with 15 points.  As a defender he leads the team with four game-winning goals.
 
Rounding out this group are seniors Dylan Williams (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) and Greg Silvestro (West Sayville/Connetquot) and junior Hans Purtell (Johnson City/Johnson City).  Williams and Silvestro each have registered 14 points while Purtell has collected 12 points.  Silvestro, another defender, leads the team with eight assists while Purtell is second with six helpers.
 
Sutherland, Santangelo, Van Brunt, and Williams were first team All-SUNYAC selections while Silvestro and Purtell earned second and third team honors respectively.
 
In the goal, senior Vincent Pellegrino (Baldwin/Baldwin) has been the No. 1 keeper for the Red Dragons for two seasons.  He has logged 1,801 minutes and has a 0.45 goals against average with 11 shutouts.  The first team All-SUNYAC keeper set the program record this past weekend for consecutive shutouts (7) and has gone 640:37 without allowing a goal.  He also became the career leader with 28 individual shutouts, breaking the old mark of 27.5 set in 1991.
 
Pellegrino has had help in front of him with his three senior backs.  Van Brunt, Silvestro and Matthew Matteo (Millerton/Webutuck) have created a formidable back line that has held opponents in check especially during the last third of the season and during this run.
 
"It without a doubt starts with our defense," stated Williams.  "When they're shutting down teams like they have been, it makes our job a lot easier."
 
Of the three teams that are competing this weekend, the Red Dragons have faced both MIT and St. Lawrence.  Oneonta faced MIT back in 2012 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, which is its only meeting with the Engineers.  The Red Dragons won the match 4-2.
 
The last time the Red Dragons faced St. Lawrence was in 2011 in the opening game of the sectional round in Canton, NY.  The game went to the second overtime before Oneonta prevailed, 2-1, to reach the quarterfinals.
 
Byrne concluded, "We are heading down to Philadelphia healthy and full of confidence, and we are proud to be representing our college and the SUNYAC Conference."