POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- The Oneonta men's lacrosse team were put in an early deficit on the road and could not dig themselves out as they dropped to Vassar College, 18-13, Saturday afternoon. Vassar built a 12-2 lead heading into halftime before Oneonta outscored them 11-6 in the second half for the five-goal difference. Junior Thomas Hnis (Smithtown, N.Y./Kings Park) and senior Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) both continued their respective hot starts to the season as Hnis led the game with eight points off five goals and three assists, and O'Neil was right behind with four goals and three assists for seven points. The result moved the Red Dragons to 1-2 this season, while it improved the Brewers to 1-1 overall.

"It was a disappointing first half, all around," said Head Coach Pete Owens. "A lot of mistakes that you can't make if you hope to beat a quality opponent like Vassar. The second half was encouraging, something for our team to build on." 

Sophomore Cody Sharp (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills Ballston Lake) gave Oneonta the first lead of the game with an unassisted shot in the opening period at 12:25. Vassar then scored nine unanswered goals for a 9-1 advantage with 7:50 left in the second quarter. Hnis stopped the scoreless spell for the Red Dragons at 6:32, however the Brewers totaled three more goals in the final moments of the half to go up 12-2.

Oneonta showed no signs of giving up and rattled off six straight goals to start the third quarter and cut their deficit to four, 12-8, at 6:14. O'Neil powered the run with three goals and two assists, while Hnis was right with him with two goals and two assists. Senior Daniel Macchiarella (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland) and junior Johnny Terrana (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown East) assisted Hnis and O'Neil, respectively, then Sharp scored his second goal off a pass from O'Neil. The Brewers recorded two quick goals to regain a six-goal lead, then Hnis and Terrana answered with back-to-back goals in a 20-second span to end the third period down four, 14-10. 

Senior Shakim Carr (Brooklyn, N.Y./John Dewey) scored his first career goal as a Red Dragon off a pass from Hnis at the start of the fourth quarter, then O'Neil netted his sixth goal of the season with an assist from junior Finn Morris (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) to trim the lead to 15-12 with 10:17 to play. Vassar added another two goals to their lead to go up 17-12 with 8:13 left. The Red Dragons recorded their final goal when Hnis fired in his 15th goal of the season off a pass from Carr with 3:49 left.

Vassar outshot Oneonta in total shots, 42-40, held a 37-27 margin in ground balls, and won 24 of 35 faceoffs. The Red Dragons were 18-for-20 on clear attempts and 2-for-3 on extra man opportunities, while the Brewers ended 15-for-17 on clears and 1-for-1 on the man-up. Vassar was led by Tate Tinker with three goals and four assists, and Anderson Eads with three goals and two assists.

Sharp finished the day with two goals, while Carr and Terrana both recorded a goal and an assist. Terrana also collected four ground balls and caused two turnovers. Senior Aidan Greene (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) picked up the team-high five ground balls and caused the game-high three turnovers.

Sophomore Mark Restivo (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) started the first half in goal for Oneonta and finished with nine saves. Senior Ryan Collins (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) played the second half and ended with two saves. Andrew Timson manned the net for Vassar and recorded 10 saves.

Oneonta is back on Red Dragon Field on Tuesday, March 3, for a non-conference match against Delhi at 3 pm. Read Full Article