ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's soccer team finished their fast-paced, physical, SUNYAC match against (RV) Buffalo State in a 1-1 draw, Wednesday afternoon at Red Dragon Field. Both goals in the match came in the first half as Buffalo State gained the lead in the 15th minute, then junior
Zach Tanner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) scored the equalizer for Oneonta in the 36th. Junior
James Cintron (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) recorded a season-high 11 saves for the Red Dragons as the team improved to 8-3-3 on the season, 3-1-2 in the SUNYAC, and the Bengals moved to 11-1-2 overall and 4-0-2 in conference play.
"It was a very competitive game, end to end, exciting stuff," said assistant coach
Ian Zingaro. "The boys fought back, showed character, and found an equalizer against a very good Buffalo State team."
Buffalo State took the 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Alik Stasyuk passed the ball to Lesedi Sekhobo for a shot inside the box that was first saved by Cintron, then Sekhobo gathered the rebound and scored on his second attempt.
The Bengals' advantage was only for a moment as Tanner and the Red Dragons netted the game-tying goal in the 36th minute. Junior
Adrian Matute (Islip, N.Y./Islip) delivered a pass down the field towards senior
Joe Holder (Greenwood Lake, N.Y./Warwick) and sophomore
Tommy Kliampas (South Huntington, NY/Walt Whitman). Kliampas got a touch on the ball and sent a lead pass between two defenders to Holder, who got to the ball at the top of the 18 just before the Bengals keeper. Holder kicked the ball to the left side of the six-yard box then ran down and centered it in front of an open net for Tanner to sprint in and score, while he crashed into the back of the net with Kliampas. The goal was Tanner's second of the season, and it was Holder's second assist of the year.
Kliampas and senior
Dillon Kelly (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Beacon) each had a shot on net in the final two minutes of the first half, but Carson Smith made the saves for Buffalo State to keep the game tied.
Senior
Luigi Prosperi (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) had a chance in the 54th minute to give Oneonta the lead after receiving a lead pass from senior
Zach Rabadi (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay), but Buffalo State's keeper came charging up and got a glove on the ball, while colliding with Prosperi, and knocked it away. The Red Dragon bench was asking for a foul after the collision, but the refs let the match play on.
Tanner had the final opportunity for the Red Dragons in the 84th minute after he caused a turnover at midfield, then received a pass from Holder for a one-on-one with the goalie and shot it from 15 yards out, but the ball went over the crossbar.
"We were unlucky to miss some chances later in the game, but our goalkeeper made some crucial saves towards the end of the game." Zingaro concluded.
Cintron made a pair of stops in the final five minutes of play to keep the match tied. The junior punch-saved Jay Kitcher's free kick shot away in the 87th minute, then Sekhobo fired a shot from 25 yards out in the 89th minute and Cintron leaped in the air and got a hand on it to redirect it over the crossbar.
While Cintron totaled 11 saves for the Red Dragons, five of which were in the final 30 minutes, Smith had six saves for the Bengals.
Buffalo State outshot Oneonta 16-11 in overall shots, 12-7 in shots on goal, and Oneonta had a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks.
The Red Dragons are on the road for their next match on Saturday, October 18, when they face Canton at 4 pm.
