ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's soccer team fell behind early and were unable to comeback as they dropped their SUNYAC match to Plattsburgh State, 2-1, Wednesday afternoon at Red Dragon Field. Plattsburgh built a multi-goal lead in the first half before sophomore
Tommy Kliampas (South Huntington, NY/Walt Whitman) cut the deficit to one before halftime, unfortunately Oneonta could not net the equalizer in the second half. The result moved the Red Dragons to 7-3-2 on the season, 2-1-1 in the SUNYAC, while the Cardinals improved to 6-2-4 overall and 1-2-1 in conference play.
"Today was a real disappointment. It felt like we were starting to jell, but we started slow and never really got going," said head coach
Iain Byrne. "We never really troubled their goalkeeper, and Plattsburgh were the better team."
Plattsburgh recorded their first goal in the third minute of play when Jake McGowan took a shot from the top of the 18 and into the lower right side of the net, as junior
James Cintron (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) was screened off by a few players. The Cardinals made it a two-goal game in the 37th minute when Robbie Kapovic received the ball at the top of the box and passed it behind him to Declan Gallagher, who shot the ball into the upper right 90.
Oneonta struck in the 43rd minute and made it 2-1 entering halftime. Plattsburgh was attempting to clear the ball out of their zone when senior
Milton Mancias Magana (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Mamaroneck) stole the ball and brought it to the top left corner of the box. Mancias Magana sent a centering pass to Kliampas, who headed the ball mid-flight from the top of the goal area and into the net for his seventh goal of the season.
The Red Dragons had a chance to tie the match in the 48th minute and again in the 59th minute with shots from junior
Zach Tanner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) and senior
Luigi Prosperi (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook), respectively, but the keeper, Matthew D'Ippolito, stopped both shots, and the Cardinals held the lead for the remainder of the match.
Cintron finished the game with two saves for the Red Dragons, while D'Ippolito recorded two for the Cardinals.
Plattsburgh outshot Oneonta 11-3 overall, 4-3 with shots on goal, while Oneonta had a 7-2 edge in corner kicks.
The Red Dragons are back in action on Saturday, October 11, when they travel to Fredonia for a SUNYAC match against the Blue Devils at 1 pm.
