A Quick Look
Seniors Witman Hernandez (Huntington/Walt Whitman) and Giraldo Ritaccio (Westbury/W.T. Clarke) each netted a pair of goals today to lead the SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team to a 9-1 victory at home against SUNY Potsdam.  The win for the No. 10 ranked Red Dragons pushed its overall record to 14-2 and 7-1 in the SUNYAC.
 
The Inside Story
Oneonta pretty much put this one away early jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the opening 17 minutes of play.  Senior Douglas Minogue (Miller Place/Miller Place) got things started for the Red Dragons with his first goal of the season off an assist from freshman Ian Zingaro (Liverpool/Liverpool).  Zingaro made his way into the box on the right side before crossing a ball that the Potsdam (3-13-1, 1-7 SUNYAC) keeper got his hand on, but Minogue was there to one-time a shot to the back of the goal for the early lead.
 
Hernandez then scored back-to-back goals just over one-minute apart to give Oneonta a 3-0 advantage.  For Hernandez, the goals were his 17^th and 18^th goals of the season, which leads the conference.  Junior Roberto Ventura (Brentwood/Brentwood) assisted on the first goal while sophomore Matt Howe (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) assisted on the second.
 
Less than one-minute after Hernandez's second goal, Howe added an unassisted goal for his third of the season to put the Red Dragons up 4-0.
 
After a goal by Raymond Jones gave Potsdam its lone goal in the 25^th minute, Oneonta added two more goals to take a 6-1 lead heading into halftime.  Ventura collected his fourth of the season while senior Nick Dillmann (Fishkill/John Jay) netted his first of the season.  Hernandez assisted on both goals.
 
Ritaccio scored his first and second goals of the season back-to-back in the 56^th and 79^th minutes giving the Red Dragons an 8-1 lead.  Freshman Denis Fleming (Pearl River/Pearl River) capped the scoring in the 85^th minute off an assist from Ritaccio.
 
Just the Stats
Oneonta outshot Potsdam 34-5 overall in the match.  The freshmen tandem of Nate Hanna (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) and Jake Meaney (Smithtown/Smithtown West) each played a half in goal for Oneonta today.  Hanna picked up his eighth win of the season while Meaney recorded three saves in the second half.
 
What's Next
Oneonta has a showdown with Plattsburgh tomorrow at home to decide the regular season champion in the SUNYAC and, with it, the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament, which begins next Saturday with first round games.  The two teams have already earned an opening round bye and will host semifinal matches on Wednesday, Nov. 6^th.