BRIDGEWATER, VA. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's lacrosse team traveled south to Virginia and defeated Bridgewater College, 18-10, Wednesday afternoon. Sophomore
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) led the team with six goals, two assists and two ground balls, and senior
Eric Nicholson (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) finished with three goals, four assists, and three ground balls. The Red Dragons improved to 4-2 on the season while the Eagles dropped to 3-5 overall.
Oneonta took a 3-1 lead at 8:15 after Bridgewater's Riley Stewart scored the opening goal. Sophomore
Daniel Macchiarella (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) tied it with a bounce shot in front of Eagles goalie, Gabe Wallman. O'Neil let a wrister fly into the net to gain the lead, then freshman
Thomas Hnis (Smithtown, N.Y./Kings Park) was on the right side of the zone and ripped it low to high to go up two. In the final minute of the first, Nicholson recovered the loose ball and dished it down to O'Neil for a one-on-one with Wallman and gave Oneonta the 4-2 edge.
The Eagles tied it, 4-4, at 9:18 in the second quarter before the Red Dragons scored three to go up 7-4 at halftime. Senior
Evan Kelly (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) netted his first goal off a pass from senior Matthew Kreig, while Hnis assisted Krieg and sophomore
Anthony Munro (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) on the other two goals.
The first goal in the third for Oneonta came from Nicholson, who waited with the ball behind the net before he came out in front and scored on a quick behind the back shot at 12:53. Drew Huber scored for Bridgewater to cut the lead, 8-6, at 11:25 in the third, however Oneonta answered back with seven straight goals to take a 15-6 lead with 12:20 to play. O'Neil recorded three goals during the stretch, Nicholson had two, while Kelly, on a man-up opportunity, and Krieg netted one to put the Red Dragons ahead by nine.
After Luke Wendler recorded a pair for the Eagles, senior
Ben Konak (South Salem/John Jay) was running in transition and found O'Neil wide open near the goal line to go up 16-8 with 7:12 to go. Both teams traded goals with each other to end the game. Nicholson recovered a saved shot behind the net and passed it to Kelly for his hat trick, then with 15 seconds remaining, junior
Sean Mueller (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) beat Wallman with a running bounce shot for his first goal as a Red Dragon.
Kelly finished with three goals and an assist, while Krieg recorded two goals and two assists. Hnis ended with one goal, two assists, and two ground balls.
Senior
Harrison Boukas (North Massapequa/Plainegde) manned the net and finished with 13 saves. Junior
Stephen Barikyan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) won 11 of 19 faceoffs and led the team with eight ground balls. Junior
Matthew Mangels (St. James/Smithtown East) caused three turnovers and collected four ground balls, and senior
Jesse AlfanoStJohn (Westhampton Beach/Westhampton Beach) caused two turnovers and grabbed three ground balls.
Wallman finished with 10 saves for the Eagles. Stewart finished with three goals, and Wendler recorded two goals and an assist.
Oneonta outshot Bridgewater, 43-39, while the Eagles had a 41-39 edge in ground balls.
The Red Dragons' next game is Saturday at Kean University at 4 pm.
