ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's lacrosse team was down four entering the final quarter when they scored five unanswered to defeat Brockport in SUNYAC play 10-9, Saturday afternoon. Oneonta had a different player score each goal in the fourth quarter with sophomore
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) netting the game-winner off a pass from senior
Eric Nicholson (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) with four seconds remaining. O'Neil led the team with four goals while Nicholson and senior
Evan Kelly (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) both finished with a goal and two assists. The Red Dragons improved to 6-5 on the season, 2-2 in the SUNYAC, and the Golden Eagles dropped to 3-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
Both O'Neil and Brockport's Nick Askin recorded two goals in the first period as the game remained tied, 2-2, heading into the second. O'Neil scored the first of the game after he received a pass up high from Kelly. At 9:49, he cut towards the right side of the goal and got a pass from Nicholson to score the second.
Each team scored twice in the second quarter for the game to remain deadlocked, 4-4, at halftime. Junior
Vincent Tirino (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) scored at 14:18 after he received the ball from Kelly, turned around and rifled it into the back of the net. Oneonta worked the ball around the attack area to junior
Vincent Herbstman (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) who had a quick stutter step to get by his defender and fired it past Brockport's goalie, Jack Acker. Nick Askin tallied his third of the game in the period, while Jackson Worden scored for the Golden Eagles at the buzzer going into the break.
Brockport had a 5-1 third quarter to take a 9-5 lead entering the fourth. Nate Askin netted two goals and Nick Askin recorded a goal and two assists during the stretch. O'Neil scored the one goal for Oneonta after he spun off his defender for an open shot on Acker.
Down four, Oneonta started to mount their comeback. Tirino had the ball at the top of the attack area, brought his defender to the right side then cut back towards the center for his seventh goal of the season. At 13:44, Herbstman received the ball at midfield and ran past his defender to go top shelf on Acker for his fifth of the season. Nicholson got the ball behind the net with 11:00 to play, wrapped around towards the front with a long stick heavily guarding him, and went with a no-look, backhanded, bounce shot for his 11th goal of the year. Kelly tied the game with his ninth of the season at 5:18 when he got past his defender, went towards the left side of the net, and beat Acker far side. The Red Dragon defense shut down the Golden Eagles in their final two possessions, where senior
Harrison Boukas (North Massapequa/Plainegde) made three saves, allowing Oneonta to clear the ball and call a timeout with 27 seconds left. Out of the timeout, the ball made its way to Herbstman where he dished it to the right side and set a screen for Tirino. Tirino sent the ball down to Nicholson, Nicholson passed the ball up high in front of the net to O'Neil who caught and shot it in one motion for the goal and a 10-9 lead with 4.2 seconds left. Junior
Stephen Barikyan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) won the final faceoff, collected the ground ball and launched it in the air as the clock expired.
Tirino and Herbstman each finished with two goals. Boukas ended with 19 saves and collected six ground balls. Barikyan won 12-of-19 faceoffs and had six ground balls.
Nick Askin had four goals and an assist, Nate Askin finished with two goals and an assist, and Acker had 14 saves.
Brockport outshot Oneonta, 44-33, while Oneonta had a 30-29 ground ball advantage.
The Red Dragons are back in action Tuesday, April 16, on the road against Hamilton at 7 pm.
