ONEONTA, N.Y. - After trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Oneonta men's soccer team scored three unanswered goals to secure a 3-1 win over Union in Tuesday's season-opening match. The Red Dragons move to 1-0 overall, while the Garnet Chargers fall to 0-1.
"The first game of the season is always tense," said head coach Iain Byrne. "We made a sloppy start, but I thought we were far more energetic in the second half and managed to turn the game around against a tough team."
Union struck early at 4:50 off a miscue by the Oneonta backline. Joseph Carofano found Kofi Sarfoh open on the right side, where he broke through the Red Dragons' defense for the opening goal. Oneonta managed a few goal attempts, but struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the first half. Union goalkeeper Michael Karcher turned a shot aside from junior Nico Loaiza (Brentwood, NY/Brentwood) late in the first to keep Oneonta off the board. The Red Dragons had a few final attempts in the final minutes, but committed three offsides to break any momentum.
After the slow first half, Oneonta equalized in the 51st minute when senior Imari Harris (Kingston, NY/Kingston) intercepted a pass from the Union backline and chipped the ball past the goalie to make it 1-1. The Red Dragons scored again less than three minutes later when sophomore Noah Hechler (Somers, NY/Somers) headed in the ball off a cross from junior Anthony Traube (Centereach, NY/Centereach) at 54:15 to take a 2-1 lead.
Oneonta controlled the half, outshooting Union 9-3 and taking six corner kick attempts. The Red Dragons added their third goal at 72:31 when fifth-year Zach Rabadi (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) made a quick pass to freshman Yacouba Bamba (Harlem, NY/Success Academy High School of Liberal Arts), who slid the ball to Loaiza in front of the Garnet Chargers' net for the score.
Oneonta finished the game outshooting Union 15-5 and holding a 9-3 corner kick advantage.
Senior goalkeeper James Cintron (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) made one save, while Union's Karcher had eight.
Oneonta next hosts the first day of the Mayor's Cup against Hood on Saturday, September 5 at 3 p.m.
