ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team shutout Utica University, 3-0, Wednesday afternoon. Freshman
Tommy Kliampas (Huntington Station, N.Y.) had two goals in the game, scoring both within 36 seconds of one another in the second half, and junior
Zach Rabadi (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) recorded two assists in the win. Junior
AJ Lucas (Beacon, N.Y.) finished with four saves while senior
Jax Flugel (Rochester, N.Y.) had one in the combined shutout performance as the Red Dragons improved to 2-0-2 this season and the Pioneers dropped to 0-2-2.
"It was good to see Tommy make the most of his start today with a couple of goals," said head coach
Iain Byrne. "Utica made it tough, and we needed a couple of great saves from AJ to see out the win."
Lucas made the first save of the game at 3:50 when Utica's Anderson Velazquez took a shot from 30 yards out that one hopped into the keeper's chest. Oneonta started to create scoring opportunities halfway through the first half and finally took the lead in the 31st minute. Off a corner kick, sophomore
Adrian Matute (Islip, N.Y./Islip) gained possession of the ball inside the 18 and shot it towards the net but had it blocked, and the ball bounced out of the penalty area to Rabadi. Rabadi gave a quick pass to junior
Joe Holder (Greenwood Lake, N.Y./Warwick) who gave a short chip pass towards the goal area where senior
Derek Marques (Somers, N.Y./Somers) scored with a diving header. The Red Dragons had a chance to extend their lead in the 33rd minute off a penalty kick, but the Pioneers keeper, Foti Xidias, made the save to keep it a one-goal game at half.
Utica had a chance in the 46th minute to tie the game when Gavin Baxter fired a shot from 20 yards out that was heading directly towards the net. Lucas lunged to get his left hand on the ball and punched it into the left corner of the crossbar and junior
Dillon Kelly (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Beacon) kicked it away. In the 65th minute, Kliampas scored twice to put the game out of reach. For his first collegiate goal, he gained possession of the ball at midfield, dribbled past multiple Pioneer defenders and rolled the ball right past Xidias from 15 yards out. Just under 40 seconds later, Oneonta forced a turnover deep in Utica territory and Rabadi got the ball from 25 yards out and sent a pass into the penalty area for Kliampas who fired it into the left side of the net. In the closing minutes, Utica's Maximilian Pawlowski brought the ball into the penalty area, towards the net for a shot, but Flugel came charging at him to block the shot out of play and secure the shutout victory.
Foti finished with four saves for the Pioneers. Oneonta outshot Utica 15-8 overall, 7-5 on target, and had a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.
The Red Dragons' next game is home on Saturday, September 14, against Vassar at 4 pm on Red Dragon Field.
