The SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team dropped its opening game of the 2018 Mayor's Cup tournament held on campus today.  The Red Dragon offense was stymied by a solid St. Lawrence squad falling 2-0.  The win for the Saints kept them undefeated in the early season at 3-0 while the loss for the Red Dragons puts them at 1-1-1.
 
"We have no complaints," said Head Coach Iain Byrne.  "We lost to a top team that are fun to watch.  The first half was a real battle, but we got on top in the second half but just couldn't get a bounce to go our way.  We eventually got caught on a counterattack and that was the game."
 
In the first 10 minutes of the match, Oneonta held a slight advantage in play earning three corner kicks.
 
The Saints turned the momentum around in the next 10 minutes including getting one by Oneonta keeper Nicholas Giordano (East Northport/Commack) in the 14^th minute to go ahead 1-0.  Giordano made a diving stop in the 13^th minute that fell over the end line giving St. Lawrence a corner kick.
 
On the ensuing kick, Jethro Dede served the ball clear across to the back post where it was headed by Sam Sapnar and saved by Giordano.  After a scramble in front of the goal, it was Stephen Dorney who banged it home for the first goal of the match.
 
St. Lawrence took its one goal lead into halftime along with a shot advantage of 7-4.  Oneonta did hold a marked advantage in corner kicks 7-2.
 
Oneonta did assume some control of the match in the second half building to the 72^nd minute when they were awarded a penalty kick.  Senior Justin Cebollero (Commack/Commack) stepped up to take the kick and was stopped by senior Mike Smith of St. Lawrence keeping the score at 1-0 in favor of the Saints.
 
Ten minutes later, St. Lawrence broke free on a counterattack where Ryan Crouse was ahead of the defense before putting a shot by Giordano to essentially ice the match.
 
Giordano finished the game with four saves while Smith made three stops.
 
The final day of the Mayor's Cup will be tomorrow with a pair of games on Red Dragon Field.  St. Lawrence will play Plattsburgh at 1pm followed by Oneonta versus U Mass-Boston at 4pm.