A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team scored a pair of first half goals and then held off a late charge by visiting RIT to pick up a 2-1 victory at home today.  The Red Dragons remained unbeaten through its first five games at 4-0-1 while the Tigers leave town 4-2-1.
 
"We played great for the first 30 minutes, then seemed to lose our way," said Head Coach Iain Byrne.  "RIT is always a tough out."
 
The Inside Story
Oneonta carried the play throughout the opening half of play creating early chances to get on the scoreboard.
 
The first opportunity for the Red Dragons came in the seventh minute on a shot by junior Alex Sipos (Merrick/Calhoun) from inside the box that RIT keeper Jason Trapp made a diving, right-handed save.  A few minutes later, junior Ian Zingaro (Liverpool/Liverpool) took a shot that had to be handled by the keeper to keep the game scoreless.
 
Oneonta finally broke through in the 23^rd minute on Lucas Fecci's (Somers/Somers) third goal of the season.  Fecci headed a service into the box by classmate Ethan Brunell (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) that found the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.
 
The Red Dragons added a second goal in the closing minutes of the first half on a rebound off a penalty kick.  Oneonta was awarded a penalty kick, which was taken by senior Jeremy Pantoni (Goshen/Goshen).  Pantoni looked for the left corner of the goal, but Trapp chose the right way and made the save.  On the rebound, freshman Owen Siegel (Liberty/Liberty) was there to get his head on the rebound to push it past Trapp who couldn't recover in time.  Siegel's goal was the first of his collegiate career.
 
The momentum seemed to shift in the latter part of the second half where RIT began to control the play.  Their hard work paid off in the 80^th minute off a corner kick that cut its deficit in half.
 
Senior Adam Wuest connected on a header on a ball served in from the left corner flag by sophomore John Lucas.  For Wuest, it was his second goal of the season.
 
Just the Stats
Oneonta held a slight 18-14 shot advantage for the match while RIT earned seven corner kicks to five for Oneonta.  Trapp ended the contest with seven saves while Oneonta keeper Nate Hanna (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker) came up with four stops.
 
What's Next
Next up for Oneonta is SUNY Geneseo and the opening game of the 2021 SUNYAC schedule.  The Red Dragons will host the Knights beginning at 4pm on Red Dragon Field.
 
Byrne concluded with, "Going into conference play next weekend, we still need to improve, but there are signs we are starting to gel."