A Quick Look
Sophomore Matt Howe (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) scored in the 103^rd minute to lift the SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team to a 1-0 win at Buffalo State today.  The win was the fifth straight for the nationally ranked No. 14 squad in Division III pushing its overall record to 10-1 and 3-0 in the SUNYAC.
 
"That was as hard a conference game as I can remember," commented Head Coach Iain Byrne.  "The red card changed the game and we managed to take advantage of the extra man.  Our back five had a great weekend with two clean sheets."
 
The Inside Story
Today's match was physical and tightly contested.  The Bengals produced the best scoring chance of the first half when a through-ball sent leading scorer Theo Pencic on a break, but he was unable to beat Francesco Scotti (Commack/Commack) who was charging hard.
 
The Red Dragons nearly got on the scoreboard midway through the second half on a second chance opportunity after Bengal keeper Andreas Queen made an initial stop on a shot by sophomore Matt Howe (Hopewell Junction/John Jay).  The loose ball was gathered by senior Daniel Ioos (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) who blasted a shot on goal that was bodied aside by a Bengal defender Trevor Moreland.
 
A Buffalo State player was issued a red card in the 76^th minute giving Oneonta a man advantage for the remainder of the match.  The Red Dragons finally ended the match when Howe took a nifty back pass from senior Witman Hernandez (Huntington/Walt Whitman) before drilling a shot into the top of the goal.
 
Just the Stats
Oneonta finished with a 15-13 edge in shots, while Buffalo State had an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks.  Scotti recorded his fifth win of the season and his second shutout making six saves while Queen finished with four saves in the loss.
 
What's Next
Oneonta will be on the road again next weekend when they face Oswego on Friday afternoon and rival SUNY Cortland on Saturday.

Matt Howe's (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) game-winner