ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's lacrosse team overpowered New Paltz for a 21-6 SUNYAC victory and clinched a spot in the conference tournament, Wednesday afternoon on Red Dragon Field. The Red Dragons had 13 different players hit the back of the net as the team improved to 8-8 on the season, 5-1 in the SUNYAC, and the Hawks dropped to 6-10 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
Sophomore
Thomas Hnis (Smithtown, N.Y./Kings Park) finished with the game-high seven points off three goals and four assists. Junior
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) recorded two goals with three assists for five points, and graduate student
Matthew Krieg (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) ended the game with three goals and an assist for four points.
Krieg opened the scoring at 9:42 with an assist from Hnis, then O'Neil received the ball from senior
Vincent Tirino (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) to go up 2-1 at 6:20. Senior
Anthony Munro (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and Hnis each fired one past the New Paltz goalie as Oneonta went into the second period ahead 4-1.
The Red Dragons scored five unanswered goals to take a 9-2 lead with 3:56 to play in the half. Tirino opened the run with a man-up goal at 12:26, then Krieg scored 11 seconds later. Junior
Sergio Ilario (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) netted his fifth goal of the season, Tirino found O'Neil in front of the net for one, and Hnis muscled his way past a Hawks defender for a goal that put the team up seven.
New Paltz recorded two goals to cut the deficit to five, 9-4, with 2:04 left in the second period, however Oneonta ran away with the contest and scored 11 unanswered goals for a controlling 20-4 lead with 12:17 remaining in the game. Freshman
Tim Navin (), sophomore
Finn Morris (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach), and senior
Vincent Herbstman (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) all scored twice during the stretch, while Krieg and Hnis recorded their hat tricks. Senior
Brett Deegan (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue), junior
Aidan Greene (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), and sophomore
Ryan Lussier (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills Ballston Lake) fired in the other goals for the 16-point advantage.
Sophomore
Trevor Murray (Edgewater, Md./Ward Melville) recorded his first career goal with the Red Dragons, and the team's final goal of the day, with 8:53 left to play. Murray received the ball at the top of the attack zone and sprinted past his defender for a shot from the right side of the goal that went into the far side of the net.
Tirino and Lussier each finished the game with a goal and two assists. Herbstman, Morris, and Navin all scored twice.
Senior
Stephen Barikyan (Tappan/Tappan Zee) won 19 of 24 faceoffs and collected the game-high 13 ground balls. Graduate student
Andrew Guinto (Syracuse/West Genesee) and senior
Matthew Mangels (St. James/Smithtown East) each caused three turnovers. Sophomore
David Trahan (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) caused two turnovers and collected two ground balls.
Freshman
Mark Restivo (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) played the first 45 minutes and recorded nine saves for a .692 save percentage. Junior
Ryan Collins (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) played 11:02 and finished with five saves for a .714 save percentage, and sophomore
Ben Thayer (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) had two saves in the final 3:58.
Oneonta outshot New Paltz 56-39 total, 38-22 on target, and had a 56-29 groundball advantage. The Red Dragons won 23 of 31 faceoffs, were 23-for-27 on clears, and 1-for-1 on extra man opportunities. The Hawks were 17-for-22 on clear attempts and 2-for-5 on the man-up advantage.
Oneonta wraps up the regular season on the road against Cortland on Saturday, April 26, at 1 pm.
