ONEONTA, N.Y. - Despite playing a man-down for an entire second half, the Oneonta men's soccer tie battled to a 3-3 draw with Hamilton on Wednesday afternoon. The Red Dragons move to 4-1-3, while the Continentals go to 2-4-1.

"The red card changed the game, and we were forced to change our approach," said head coach Iain Bryne. "We showed incredible spirit, plated 46 minutes a mand down, and scored twice during that spell." 

Oneonta came out strong, with junior Ali Somow (Utica, N.Y./Proctor) and senior Owen Siegel (Liberty, N.Y./Liberty) firing back-to-back shots on the Hamilton goal in the 19th minute. Goalkeeper Peter Montesano Scheibe turned the shots aside to keep it scoreless. The Red Dragons drew a corner in the 23rd minute, and Somow crossed the ball in front of the Continentals' net. After a scramble, senior Luigi Prosperi (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) found the back of the net to make it 1-0.

Hamilton responded four minutes later when Jude Rouhana scored on a Luke Peplowski pass to tie at 27:29. In the final minutes, Oneonta goalkeeper AJ Lucas (Beacon, N.Y.) saved a shot from Peplowski, but an unfortunate red card on sophomore Adrian Matute (Islip, N.Y./Islip) in the Red Dragons' box gave Hamilton a penalty kick. Peplowki converted the attempt at 41:42 to take a 2-1 lead. The advantage was short-lived as Oneonta found the equalizer from freshman Nico Loaiza's (Brentwood, N.Y.) first-career goal 25 seconds later.

Hamilton opened the second half with Lucas stopping four Hamilton shots in four minutes. Siegel took a long-range shot that just cleared the top of the crossbar at 52:34, but Oneonta struggled to find open looks. At 67:50, the Continentals took a corner, and Lucas saved two quick shots before Charles Hawthorn collected the rebound and shot into the left corner of the goal to take a 3-2 lead at 68:17. Oneonta tied 3-3 in the 76th minute when Kevin Butler (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) chipped the ball past the goalkeeper. The Hamilton defense held Oneonta without a shot for the remainder of the game but could not ultimately take the lead.

Hamilton outshot Oneonta 15-13 and held a 10-3 corner kick advantage.

Lucas finished with eight saves, while Montesano Scheibe had four.

Oneonta opens SUNYAC play against Oswego on Sat. Sept. 28 at 2 p.m.