ONEONTA, N.Y. -- In an exciting back-and-forth SUNYAC semifinal showdown, the Oneonta men's lacrosse team came out on top and defeated Potsdam in overtime, 13-12, Wednesday afternoon at Red Dragon Field. The victory advanced Oneonta to the SUNYAC Championship for the second straight season, and they will face Red Dragon rival Cortland on Saturday, May 2, at 1 pm in Cortland.
In a sequel to a thrilling regular season contest, where there were nine ties and six lead changes, the intense postseason rematch between the two consisted of 10 ties and six lead changes. The Bears were ahead at halftime and were up 12-10 with less than five minutes to play, before senior
Shakim Carr (Brooklyn, N.Y./John Dewey) and freshman
Ryan Babikian (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) tied the game with 35 seconds left to force overtime. Just over a minute into the extra period, junior
Thomas Hnis (Smithtown, N.Y./Kings Park) scored the game-winner to advance the Red Dragons to the conference final.
"We knew that was going to be hard," said Head Coach
Pete Owens. "Potsdam is a tough and admirable team, coaches and players are excellent."
Senior
Jamie O'Neil (Bath, N.Y./Haverling), Hnis, and Babikian co-led the Red Dragons as they all finished with four points. O'Neil and Hnis both recorded three goals and an assist, while Babikian scored four times. Carr, senior
Daniel Macchiarella (Guilderland, N.Y./Guilderland), and junior
Finn Morris (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) each found the back of the net once.
"Really proud of the fact that we didn't let some tough circumstances dictate our effort," Coach Owens continued. "So happy for our seniors."
Potsdam's Preston Daniels had the game-high six points off two goals and four assists. Braydon Goddard recorded four goals with an assist for five points, and both Billy Kozloski and Ronin Oakes scored a pair of goals for the Bears.
Jumping into the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 10 when Goddard and Daniels scored within a minute of each other for the Bears to take a 12-10 lead with 7:09 left in regulation. With 4:31 remaining, Carr had the ball at the top of the zone and sprinted down towards the net. The Red Dragon senior spun off his defender to the front of the crease and fired it into the far post to make it a one-goal game.
Down to the final 100 seconds, Hnis took a shot that was saved by goalie Saka Thompson and Potsdam's Ryan Wassmer picked up the ground ball. Wassmer took a few steps with the ball, before sophomore
Cody Sharp (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills Ballston Lake) smacked the Bears' stick from behind to cause a key turnover in the game as the ball bounced out of play, allowing Oneonta to call a timeout with 1:32 left.
Out of the timeout, the Red Dragons recorded a couple of shots that were off the mark, then Babikian tied the game at 12 with 35 seconds left in regulation. Morris had the ball at the top of the zone and brought it down into the left alley. He spun away from his defender for an open shot near the crease, however another Bear came closing in and bumped into Morris as he was taking the shot. After Thompson saved Morris' shot, the ball bounced away from him and towards Babikian, who picked up the ground ball on the other side of the crease and whipped it into the open net to tie the game.
In the closing seconds of regulation, Hnis had an opportunity to win the contest, but his shot went directly into Thompson, and the game went into overtime.
Oneonta won the opening faceoff of the extra period and kept possession of the ball the whole time. Macchiarella and Babikian each had a shot attempt but were off target, while Hnis attempted a behind the back shot that was blocked by a defender.
Over a minute into overtime, with 2:42 left in the period, Hnis recorded the game-winning goal. The junior attackman restarted play from behind the net off Babikian's shot, worked his way up towards the top of the zone and split two defenders before he fired in the underhand, game-winning, shot past Thompson. The goal was Hnis' SUNYAC-leading 68th of the season.
"Tom Hnis showed that he is one of the best players in the leagues, hands down," Coach Owens concluded.
Heading back to the beginning of the game, Hnis started off scoring the first goal, then Potsdam answered with a pair for a 2-1 lead at 11:18. The Red Dragons responded back and used the remainder of the first quarter to go on a 4-1 run for a 5-3 advantage. Babikian scored three of his goals during the stretch, including a man-up goal with an assist from sophomore
Tommy Hyland (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown), while Morris scored the other goal, his 11th this year.
Potsdam started to gain momentum in the second period and outscored Oneonta 4-1 in the quarter to go up 7-6, heading into halftime. The Bears had Kozloski score twice in the second, while Barnes and Oakes each netted one. O'Neil found the back of the net early during the second as the Red Dragons went into the break down one.
While the teams traded goals with each other throughout the third quarter, Oneonta had the slight edge on Potsdam and outscored them 4-3 to tie the game at 10 going into the fourth period. O'Neil and Macchiarella gave the Red Dragons the lead at the start of the third, though Daniels and Goddard answered back for the Bears to regain a 9-8 edge at 6:34. O'Neil recorded his hat trick and 34th goal of the season, then, following a goal from Daniels that regained Potsdam's lead, Hnis knotted the game up with six seconds left in the quarter. He restarted play from behind the net, ran past his defender and stepped in front of the crease to fire in the shot into the top shelf.
Oneonta's sophomore goalie
Mark Restivo (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) finished with 10 saves for a .455 save percentage, along with five ground balls. Sophomore
Sean Grimes (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y./Croton Harmon) went 13-for-26 on faceoffs and scooped up five ground balls. Senior
Sergio Ilario (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) and junior
Johnny Terrana (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown East) both caused two turnovers and collected three ground balls. Junior
David Trahan (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) caused two turnovers and picked up one ground ball, and sophomore
Hunter Busch (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) gathered two ground balls and caused a turnover.
Thompson ended the game with 13 saves for a .500 save percentage for Potsdam. Drew Costello went 15-for-26 on faceoffs and collected the game-high 13 ground balls. Damyn LeClair caused three turnovers with four ground balls, and Alex Farben-Griggs caused two turnovers and grabbed two ground balls.
Oneonta finished the game with a 44-39 advantage in total shots, 26-22 with shots on goal, while Potsdam ended with a 33-28 margin in ground balls. The Red Dragons went 21-for-24 on clear attempts and were 1-for-2 on extra man opportunities. The Bears were 14-for-15 on clears and 1-for-3 on the man-up.
Since Cortland beat Plattsburgh in the other conference semifinal match, 36-3, Oneonta will travel to Cortland for a chance at their first SUNYAC Championship on Saturday at 1 pm.
