BROCKPORT, N.Y. -- The No. 23 SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team redeemed themselves from a tough regular season loss and beat No. 19 Brockport in the SUNYAC semifinals, 1-0, Wednesday afternoon. After a scoreless first half, sophomore Joe Holder (Greenwood Lake, N.Y./Warwick) found the back of the net in the 52nd minute for the game-winner, advancing the Red Dragons to the conference championship match against Cortland on Saturday. Senior Nate Hanna (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) stood tall in net and finished with a career-high 11 saves.  

"Brockport is always a tough out and today was no different," head coach Iain Byrne stated. "They had a couple of chances in the first half, and we had ours in the second. Fortunately, Holder reacted quickest to a great save from their keeper to bury the rebound and send us on to another conference final."  

Oneonta had a couple chances to get on the board in the first 10 minutes of play. Junior Ali Somow (Utica, N.Y./Proctor) took a free kick in the fourth minute from 23 yards out that spun past Brockport's defensive wall but was just off target and hit the right post. Junior Luigi Prosperi (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) had an opportunity to strike in the 10th minute, however Andrew Taylor made the save. Following the Red Dragons early pressure, the Golden Eagles began their attack and registered several shots on goal, though none of them got by Hanna. Brockport's last chance to score in the first half came in the 36th minute when Warren Banks delivered a header from within the six-yard box, but Hanna instantly reacted and pushed the ball away for his sixth save of the contest.

The Red Dragons struck in the 52nd minute when Somow took the corner kick and kicked the ball in the penalty area to Prosperi for a header attempt. Taylor saved the header however the ball bounced off the crossbar down towards the front of the net, and before the ball even touched the ground, Holder tapped it in for the goal. As they continued to look for the tie, the Golden Eagles last chance came on a Seamus Parker free kick with nine seconds remaining. Parker lined the ball over all his teammates in the penalty area and straight into Hanna's chest.  

Taylor saved four shots for the Golden Eagles. Brockport outshot Oneonta 15-14 total, 11-5 on target, while the Red Dragons had a 6-1 advantage on penalty corners.  

Oneonta, who improved to 14-2-3 on the season, faces Cortland in the SUNYAC Final on Saturday at 2 pm. Read Full Article