SUNY Oneonta Athletics

Women’s Track & Field

Mar. 11^th & 12^th at NCAA Championships hosted by Capital University

The Oneonta State women’s track and field team headed to Columbus, OH for the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Capital University.

Junior Lauren Brunetto (Fishkill, Beacon) came into the meet 12th in the 800m run and finished eighth in finals with a time of 2:15.29 earning All-American honors in the event for the second straight year in a row. Brunetto, who was this year’s SUNYAC conference champion in the event, finished sixth at last year’s indoor championships.

Red Dragon sophomore Kacy Boburka (Binghamton, Chenango Valley) entered her first ever NCAA championships with high hopes and held her own in the high jump. Boburka cleared a height of 1.66 meters (5’ 5 ¼”) to join Kinsey Bak of Simpson College and Meghan Donovan of Delaware Valley College in a three-way tie for fourth place earning All-American honors. Boburka was this year’s SUNYAC conference champion in the event with a leap of 1.61 meters.

With the completion of the meet, the pair of Red Dragons carried the women’s team to 39th place finish with five points tied with Oberlin College, Loras College and DePauw University.

Women’s Lacrosse (0-5/0-0)

Mar. 11^th at St. John Fisher, L 10-20

Oneonta State women’s lacrosse headed to Pittsford to face St. John Fisher for their third game of the season last Friday. The Red Dragons fell to the Cardinals 20-10 as Junior Rebecca Monteith (West Islip, West Islip) kept Oneonta in the game scoring seven of the team’s 10 points.

St. John Fisher sent the ball into the net 11 seconds into the game and held the lead, scoring the games first three goals going ahead 3-0.

The Red Dragons got on the board in the 4th minute of play as sophomore Taylor Troyano (West Islip/West Islip) scored off a free position.

Oneonta scored again in the 8th minute of play when sophomore Caroline Tulley (Malverne, Sacred Heart Academy) passed the ball to senior Heidi Kissinger (East Islip, East Islip), who scored cutting the Cardinals lead to three goals. Two minutes later junior Samantha Voor (West Islip, West Islip) scored to put the Red Dragons down only 5-3.

The two squads battled back and forth with St. John Fisher leading 9-7 after Monteith scored to end the first half.

Monteith picked up where she left off scoring off a pass from Kissinger 52 seconds into the second half gaining momentum and only down by one.

St. John Fisher then went on to a nine goal run led by seniors Mary Stimson and Meg Merriam who finished the game with four goals each.

Oneonta looked to make a comeback with Monteith scoring two but came up just short as time ran out.

Senior Annelise Muscietta (Lindenhurst, Walter O'Connell Copiague) had six saves for the Red Dragons on the day in goal.

Mar. 12^th at RIT, L 10-14

The Red Dragons continued on the road last Saturday heading to face Rochester Institute of Technology. Oneonta was persistent in the battle but came up just short as the Tigers captured the win 14-10.

Oneonta fell to a quick deficit to start the game down 2-0 before freshman Casey Sarle (West Islip, West Islip) got the Red Dragons on the score board in the 7th minute of play in her first start of the season.

Down 2-1, Oneonta sophomore Molly McGroary (New City, Clarkstown South) tied the game at two a piece in the 8th minute of play after scoring the first of her three goals she had for the Red Dragons.

RIT got back on top scoring two in a row.

McGroary continued to make her presence felt as she made a solid pass to junior Monteith who scored in the 21st minute of play cutting the deficit down only 4-3.

The Red Dragons ended the first half with a goal in the 29th minute of play by sophomore Tulley, as she received a pass from McGroary keeping the Tigers at bay only down 5-4.

The second half started identical to the first as RIT scored a quick two.

McGroary kept Oneonta alive as she again put the ball into the net in the 34th minute of play to start a 3-0 scoring drive for the Red Dragons.

McGroary, Tully, and Monteith all scored in a matter of two and a half minutes to tie the game 7-7.

RIT turned around with a quick score of its own, but it was the stick and speed of McGroary who battled back and tied the game at 8-8 in the 41st minute of play.

The Tigers then proceeded to go on its own 3-0 scoring drive twice and the Red Dragons were unable to make up the ground as the game ended with a 14-10 loss for Oneonta.

Junior Muscietta played the entire game in the net for the Red Dragons and recorded 13 saves.

Mar. 15^th at Amherst, L 4-10

On the road again, Oneonta took another defeat to No.17 Amherst by the score of 10-4 last Tuesday.

Sophomore Tulley and junior Monteith scored two goals apiece to lead the Red Dragons, who were out-shot by a 30-13 margin.

Both teams struggled on offense in the first half, as the game was tied at one goal apiece 15 minutes into the contest. Amherst got on the board three minutes into the game, but it took more than 10 minutes for Tulley to find the equalizer for Oneonta.

Amherst would take charge from there, however, scoring the final three goals of the opening period to carry a 4-1 lead into the break.

Amherst scored two goals in the first 3:07 of the second half, but the Dragons responded with Tully and Monteith scoring eight and a half minutes apart, as the hosts held a 6-3 lead with 15:00 to go. After trading goals, Amherst scored three times to give them a 10-4 cushion with 8:54 remaining, and neither team would find the back of the net again.

Junior Muscietta came up with 11 saves and four ground balls, while Oneonta was 13-for-18 on clearing opportunities.

Men’s Lacrosse (1-3/0-0)

Mar. 11^th at RPI, L 10-16

Junior Joseph Stroessenreuther (Bethpage, Bethpage) scored three goals and added one assist, but SUNY Oneonta fell to nationally ranked Rensselaer 16-10 last Friday in non-conference men’s lacrosse action.

Rensselaer held a 6-1 advantage after the first half of action, but quickly saw its lead cut as Stroessenreuther notched back-to-back goals in the third quarter to make it a 6-3 game. The Engineers scored another goal, but Oneonta State answered with just over a minute left in the quarter as Stroessenreuther passed it up to senior Tom Kelly (Lake Peekskill, Putnam Valley) to cut the deficit to three, 7-4.

Despite the momentum shift at the end of the quarter, the Engineers responded to open the final stanza, recording six straight goals to build up a 13-4 advantage with 8:47 left to play in the contest.

Oneonta State refused to back down and despite three players serving one-minute penalties, sophomore John DeOrdio (Chenango Forks, Chenango Forks) found the back of the net with 6:44 left to make it a 13-5 contest.

The teams traded goals until the 3:50 mark as RPI scored back-to-back tallies for a 16-6 lead, but the Red Dragons continued to challenge the Engineers’ defense down the stretch. The Red Dragons found momentum with four straight goals over the final 2:25. Stroessenreuther, scored with just 15 seconds left on the clock, but RPI held on with a face-off win to seal the victory.

DeOrdio notched two goals for Oneonta while sophomore Jimmy van de Veerdonk (Putnam Valley, Putnam Valley) added a goal and an assist. In goal, junior Chris Miles (Manlius, Fayetteville Manlius) shouldered the loss, posting eight saves in the first half. Senior Sean Reynolds (Bethpage, Bethpage) played the second-half, also stopping eight shots.

Mar. 16^th at Drew University, W 11-9

Sophomores van de Veerdonk and Mike Salerno (West Babylon, West Babylon) each notched three goals last Wednesday in leading the SUNY Oneonta men’s lacrosse team to an 11-9 road victory at Drew University. The win for the Red Dragons was its first of the season as they are now 1-3 overall.

Oneonta got single goals from van de Veerdonk, Salerno, Stroessenreuther and DeOrdio  to take a 4-2 lead after one period. DeOrdio added an assist on Stroessenreuther’s goal and Salerno’s goal came with 46 seconds to go in the opening period.

After a man-up goal by Drew to cut the lead to 4-3, the Red Dragons ran off five unanswered goals that carried them into the third period to take control of the contest at 9-3.

Oneonta led 10-4 midway through the third period before the Rangers scored four straight goals to cut the lead to 10-8 with 10:06 remaining in the fourth period. A man-up goal by Salerno at the 6:15 mark gave Oneonta an insurance goal as it sealed the victory for the Red Dragons.

Stroessenreuther finished with a pair of goals and one assist for three points on the night.

Junior Miles made 13 saves in goal for the Red Dragons to pick up the win.

Mar. 11^th vs. Coe College, L 0-3; vs. Wheaton College, L 3-4

A day after assaulting opposing pitching, the SUNY Oneonta bats ran into some solid pitching as they dropped a pair of games last Friday, the second day of its spring training trip to Tucson. The Red Dragons managed only three hits against #24 Coe College in a 3-0 loss and then had only eight hits in a tough 4-3 loss to Wheaton (IL) College.

One bright spot for Oneonta today was the pitching of freshman Kerry Leggett (Ballston Lake, Shenendehowa), who debuted versus Coe and then finished out the game against Wheaton. Against Coe, Leggett looked more like a veteran, keeping the Coe hitters off balance while getting out of a couple of jams to keep Oneonta in the game. She went the distance allowing only six hits and two earned runs while recording six strikeouts.

Leggett had to enter the Wheaton game with one out in the first inning as Oneonta starter, Jessica Bartalsky (New Paltz, New Paltz), struggled and was touched up for four runs and five hits. Leggett shutdown the Thunder and scattered three hits the rest of the way striking out five.

Senior Sam Voncina (Derby, Lake Shore) and freshman Tricia Kendziera (Poughquag, Arlington) collected two hits each in the loss to Wheaton. The Red Dragons battled back to 4-2 with single runs in the second and sixth inning. Voncina scored on a passed ball in the second inning Korin Ditulli (Hyde Park, F.D. Roosevelt) drove in Jillian Serraro (Hopewell Jct, John Jay) in the sixth.

In the seventh inning, freshman Laura Loudis (Loudonville, Colonie Central) hit a pinch hit single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then went to third on a passed ball. She came in to score when Kendziera hit a single to center field. Serraro was then hit by a pitch to put Kendziera in scoring position with two outs. Voncina hit a sharp single down the left field line that was handled by the left fielder, who fired a strike to the catcher, who controlled the one-hopper in time to tag Kendziera, who crashed into her hoping to knock the ball loose.

Mar. 12^th vs. St. Mary’s, L 1-7; vs. Coe College, W 4-0; vs. Central College, L 2-7

The SUNY Oneonta softball team turned the tables on #24 Coe College last Saturday by avenging a 3-0 loss the day before. The Red Dragons were the ones who recorded a 4-0 shutout win behind a five hit, complete game by junior Jessica Iuliano (Haworth, NJ, Northern Valley Regional), who made her first start of the season. Iuliano recorded three strikeouts and four walks in picking up her initial win of 2011.

Senior Voncina was the hitting star again in this one as she connected on her fourth home run of the season in the first inning and finished the game with three RBIs. Through the first seven games of the trip, Voncina has driven in nine runs and is slugging .962.

Voncina’s first inning home run came with two outs. Scoring in front of her was freshman Kendziera, who led off the game with a double. In the third inning, Kendziera came around to score on a Voncina double to left-center field. Voncina scored Oneonta’s final run on an RBI single by sophomore Jaime Lukas (Ridgewood, NJ, Ridgewood).

Voncina and Lukas would finish the game with two hits apiece as would seniors Katie Hackenburg (Queensbury, Queensbury) and Stacey Donald (Saugerties, Saugerties).

The win against Coe was the lone highlight of the day as the Red Dragons were defeated by St. Mary’s of Minnesota, 7-1, and #8 Central College, 7-2.

In the loss to St. Mary’s, Kendziera, Hackenburg and senior Laura Nowak (Akron, Akron) each collected two hits. Kendziera drove in Oneonta’s run in the fourth inning on a single.

Against Central, Kendziera once again collected a pair of hits as did Donald and junior Meg Beditz (Troy, Troy). Each player had a double and Donald and Beditz drove in one run each.

Mar. 14^th vs. Dickinson College, W 6-1; vs. University of La Verne, L 1-3

The SUNY Oneonta softball team resumed play in the Tucson Invitational last Monday and came away with a split of a pair of games to run its season record to 4-5 overall. In its first game, the Red Dragons defeated Dickinson College, 6-1, but fell to the University of La Verne 3-1.

Against Dickinson, Oneonta got another solid pitching performance from junior Iuliano, who set down the first 12 batters she faced before a leadoff single to start the fifth for the Devils ended the drought. Iuliano would go the distance allowing one run on four hits while striking out five to move to 2-0 on the season.

Oneonta first run of the game came in the second inning. Senior Donald led off with an infield single, stole two bases and then was awarded home on an interference call after she stole third base.

The Red Dragons scored four more runs in the fifth inning to increase its lead to 5-0. Oneonta got an RBI single by sophomore Kalyn Deso (Schenectady, South Colonie) to drive in the first run of the inning. Freshman Kendziera hit a double to drive in Deso for the inning’s second run and senior Serraro drove in a pair of runs to cap the scoring.

Kendziera led Oneonta’s nine-hit attack with a pair of hits.

In the second game versus La Verne, Oneonta struck first in the top of the first inning, unfortunately that would be the only run of the game for the Red Dragons. Kendziera led off the game with a single to center field and was sacrificed to second by senior Nowak. She went to third on a single by Serraro and scored on a throwing error by the catcher trying to throw Serraro out on an attempted steal of second base.

Freshman Leggett suffered the loss, but had another strong outing. She allowed five hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts and no walks. She carried a two-hitter into the sixth inning before La Verne scored two runs on three hits to break a one all tie.

Mar. 15^th vs. Denison, W 2-1; vs. College of Staten Island, W 8-1

The SUNY Oneonta softball team completed its trip to Arizona with a pair of victories last Tuesday as they defeated Denison University 2-1 and the College of Staten Island 8-1.

In the day’s first game versus Denison, Oneonta found themselves locked in a tight pitcher’s duel, before capitalizing on three Big Red miscues in the sixth to score two runs including the eventual game-winning run in the 2-1 win.

With two outs in the top of the sixth, and trailing 1-0, junior Serraro drew a walk. The next batter, senior Voncina, hit a ground ball to short that was not fielded cleanly, which allowed her and Serraro to be safe. The throw from the shortstop was also wide of first base, which compounded the original error and allowed both runners to get into scoring position at second and third base. Senior Donald then stepped up and hit the first pitch into left center to score both Serraro and Voncina with the tying and go-ahead runs.

Junior Bartalsky and freshman Leggett pitched the sixth and seventh innings respectively in relief of starter Iuliano, who threw five innings of four hit ball with two strikeouts and not being charged with an earned run. The win for Iuliano raised her record to 3-0. Leggett picked up her first collegiate save.

Serraro had two of Oneonta’s four hits in the game.

Against Staten Island, Oneonta trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the third inning where they plated four runs to take the lead. Sophomore Deso led off the inning with a single to left field and was safe at second on an error by the shortstop, which allowed freshman Chandler Campbell (Port Jervis, Port Jervis) to reach first base. Both runners moved up after a fly out by leadoff hitter, Kendziera, to put runners at second and third base.

Sophomore Lukas singled through the left side to drive in Deso while moving Campbell to third base. Lukas got herself into scoring position on the throw.

Serraro then drove in the two runners with a single through the right side and came around to score Oneonta’s final run of the inning on a sharp single to center field by junior Korin Ditulli.

The Red Dragons put the game away in the bottom of the fifth inning when they scored its final four runs. The big blow of the inning was a one-out, three-run home run by Donald, which scored Serraro and Voncina ahead of her.

Serraro, Voncina, Ditulli, Deso and freshman Loudis each had two hits in the win.

Bartalsky picked up her third win of the season pitching 4-1/3 innings allowing one run and striking out five. Leggett struck out four batters in picking up her second straight save.

Baseball (4-5/0-0)

Mar. 11^th vs. Waynesburg (PA), W 3-2; W 6-4

            The SUNY Oneonta baseball team got off to a solid start with a doubleheader sweep of Waynesburg (Pa.) last Friday. The Red Dragons got solid pitching from senior Ken Smith (Ossining, Ossining) and junior Corey Andresen (Deposit, Deposit) in posting wins of 3-2 and 6-4.

Smith, who had Tommy John surgery two years ago, took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the first game before allowing a homer to start the seventh inning to pull Waynesburg to 3-2. But junior Chris Tyson (Niskayuna, Niskayuna) relieved for O-State and got the next three batters to earn the save.

Bryan Marotta (Clifton Park, Shenendehowa) pulled a first-pitch fastball from losing pitcher John Longo over the left-field fence to give O-State a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Red Dragons took a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, when Michael DeCarr (Syracuse, Westhill) singled and went to second on a sacrifice by Eric Wells (Athens, PA, Athens). DeCarr scored on sacrifice fly to center by Cody Hitt.

DeCarr went 3-for-4 and Michael Center (Schenectady, Schenectady) finished 2-for-3 for O-State.

Trailing, 4-2, in the second game, O-State scored four times in the fifth inning. Pete Lindner (Voorheesville, Voorheesville)'s RBI single made it 4-3 and Cody Hitt (Boonville, Adirondack) followed with a two-run single. Marotta capped the rally with an RBI single.

Andresen, who relieved starter Jeffrey Carter (Clifton Park, Shenendehowa) earned the win for the Red Dragons, throwing 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball. He struck out three and walked one.

Mar. 12^th vs. Juniata (PA), L 4-6 & Mar. 13^th vs. Clarkson, L 5-13; vs. UMass-Boston, W 3-1; vs. Framingham, L 5-6

After starting out 2-0 on its spring trip to Winter Haven, Fla., the SUNY Oneonta baseball team dropped three of its next four and stands at 3-3 overall. The lone win for the Red Dragons was against #15 U Mass Boston, who was a participant in the 2010 College World series. Oneonta got a complete game, seven-hitter from junior Joshua Herzenberg (White Plains, White Plains) in a 3-1 victory. Herzenberg struck out nine batters and allowed only the one run over nine innings.

The Red Dragons trailed in the game 1-0 entering the bottom of the 7th inning where they touched up the Beacons’ starter for a pair of runs to take the lead. Sophomore Marotta led off the inning with a double and came around to score on Linder’s single on the next at-bat. Sean Fruscio (Latham, Shaker) ran for Lindner and scored on an RBI single off the bat of junior Hitt.

Oneonta’s final run came in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Dean Haussel (Sound Beach, Miller Place), who had replaced Lindner at first base. He drove in junior Kevin Knack (Ghent , Ichabod Crane)vwho walked to start the inning and stole second to get in scoring position.

Oneonta’s three losses came against Juniata, Clarkson and Framingham State College. Juniata scored three runs in the home half of the eighth inning to secure a 6-4 win over the Red Dragons. Oneonta managed only three hits in the contest.

In the Clarkson loss, both squads had 13 hits, but the Golden Knights scored 13 runs to Oneonta’s five runs to take the win. In the game, senior Jonathan Wolfanger (Oneonta, Oneonta) and sophomores Mike Mascari (Syracuse, Westhill) and Nate Jones (Apalachin, Seton Catholic) each had a pair of hits. Freshman Jake Robinson (East Norwich, Oyster Bay) drove in a pair of runs.

In the 6-5 loss to Framingham, a ninth-inning rally fell short as the Red Dragons entered the inning trailing 6-2.

DeCarr doubled to lead off and advanced to third on a fly to right by Marotta. Lindner's sacrifice fly to right scored DeCarr to make it 6-3. Wells then reached on a fielding error and Hitt singled. Mascari followed with a two-run triple, but he was left there when Jones flied to the warning track in right to end it.

Framingham scored five runs off losing pitcher Andresen, and relievers Jim Hegmann (Middletown, Pine Bush) and Robinson in the fourth inning to take a 6-2 lead.