ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's lacrosse team opened SUNYAC play with a 17-7 home victory over Potsdam, Saturday afternoon. Freshman Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) recorded seven goals, the most any Red Dragon has scored in a single game since Stephen Panno scored nine on April 20, 2019, and tallied two assists in the win as the team improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference. The Bears dropped to 5-2 on the season and 0-1 in the SUNYAC.  

After Potsdam's Owen Walsh scored first at 11:36, Oneonta recorded six unanswered goals. O'Neil started the run at 7:06 before junior Matthew Krieg (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) found senior Owen Vail (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) a minute later on a man-up opportunity. O'Neil scored his second off a pass from senior Bryce Caffrey (Montrose/Hendrick Hudson), then the Red Dragons won the next two faceoffs where senior Sam Haita (Stephentown/La Salle Institute) and freshman Daniel Macchiarella (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) immediately found the back of the net to go up 5-1. The run stopped when O'Neil recorded his hat trick off a pass by senior Jake Dominikoski (Niskayuna/Niskayuna) with 1:07 left in the quarter. The Bears cut the deficit to three with a pair of goals in the closing seconds of the first. Cobie Cree netted one at 11 seconds and after winning the faceoff Drew Costello grabbed the groundball and found Walsh with four seconds left.

Throughout the second period, Oneonta added another five goals to their lead while they held Potsdam scoreless. O'Neil tallied the first of the period on a man-up opportunity off a pass from junior Evan Kelly (Niskayuna/Niskayuna). Vail scored the next two for the Red Dragons with help from senior Connor Gallagher (Montrose/Hendrick Hudson) on his second. O'Neil capped off the run with an assist to Krieg before he took it to the cage himself for an 11-3 lead with 7:27 left in the half. Junior Harrison Boukas (North Massapequa/Plainegde) saved three shots during the second to maintain Oneonta's eight-goal lead heading into the break. 

The Bears made it 5-11 with a couple goals from Ryan Hughes and Noah Strader at 11:51 in the third period, however the Red Dragons closed out the third with four unanswered. Krieg assisted on three of the goals, two to O'Neil and one to Gallagher, and Vail scored the fourth off a dish from senior David Guest (Niskayuna/Niskayuna), putting them ahead 15-5.  

Walsh and Peyton Walsh tacked on two more for Potsdam to pull the Bears back within eight, but with 8:54 to play Oneonta was able to wind down the clock. In the final two minutes, senior Trevor Tsang (Wantagh/Mepham) and freshman Aidan Greene (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) recorded their first collegiate goals for the final 17-7.

Krieg finished with one goal and four assists, while Vail ended with four goals.  

Boukas recorded nine saves and freshman Ryan Collins (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) had one save in the final 2:57 of play.

Liam O'Neil started the first 20:35 for Potsdam and allowed 10 goals and made eight saves. Saka Thompson played the final 39:25, allowed seven goals and made eight stops.  

The Red Dragons return to action when they travel to take on Brockport on Saturday at 1 pm.  Read Full Article