ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's soccer team opened their Mayor's Cup weekend with a 1-0 victory over King's College, Saturday afternoon on Red Dragon Field. The match was scoreless until sophomore
Nico Loaiza (Brentwood, N.Y./Brentwood) netted the game-winning goal in the 58th minute with a double assist from junior
Zach Tanner (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) and senior
Iyare Harris (Kingston, NY/Kingston). The Red Dragons improved to 2-0-1 this season, while the Monarch's dropped to 2-1 overall.
"We had enough possession, but once again we never really created enough chances," said head coach
Iain Byrne. "At the end, we needed a great save from Cintron to preserve the win."
At 57:14 in the scoreless battle, junior
Adrian Matute (Islip, N.Y./Islip) kicked the ball down the field to Harris. Harris gained control of the ball and, on his second touch, passed it to the right side of the box to Tanner. Tanner immediately sent a centering pass towards the penalty mark to Loaiza, who used his left foot to beat the Monarch's keeper. The goal was Loaiza's first of the year, and it was also Tanner's and Harris's first assist of the season.
Junior
James Cintron (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) finished with two saves for the Red Dragons. In the 24th minute, Cintron stopped Jonathan Huntley's header, then, in the 84th minute, he made a critical diving save on Brayden Lane's shot to ensure the Red Dragons victory. Ben Van Valkenburg ended with eight saves for the Monarchs.
Oneonta outshot King's 18-9 total, 9-2 on target, and they held a 7-1 advantage on corner kicks.
The Red Dragons will face UMass Boston on Sunday, September 7, for the Mayor's Cup trophy at 2:30 pm on Red Dragon Field. UMass Boston beat Hartwick, 3-1, on Saturday, which means Oneonta will need to beat UMass Boston to win the Mayor's Cup trophy. UMass Boston holds the tiebreaker if the match is to end in a tie.
