Men’s Soccer (13-5-1/7-2 SUNYAC)
Nov. 2nd vs. New Paltz, W 2-1 (SUNYAC Semifinals)
The SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team edged New Paltz last Friday, 2-1, in the semifinals of the SUNYAC tournament today at Plattsburgh. Freshman
Jake Sutherland (Syracuse/West Genesee) scored in the 55th minute to lift the Red Dragons past the Hawks.
Up for grabs will be the automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament field of 64 that goes to the victor. The Red Dragons are gunning for its second straight conference title, as last year they ran all the way to the NCAA final four in San Antonio. Oneonta will be looking to avenge its regular season loss to Plattsburgh in overtime, 3-2, back on Oct. 6 in Plattsburgh. This is the second straight year Oneonta is playing in the SUNYAC championship game.
“We responded well after falling behind early, but we were far from our best today,” said head coach
Iain Byrne. “While there were many disappointing performances, Jake turned our team around with a virtuoso performance off the bench. He capped his stellar game with the game-winning goal.”
New Paltz did go ahead early in the match with a goal in the 15th minute.
In the 30th minute, junior
Luke Halberg (Norwich/Valley Heights Christian Academy) tied the game with his team leading seventh goal of the season. Freshman
Colin Volpe (Commack/St. Anthony's) crossed a ball into the box that Halberg was able to control and send by the keeper.
Sutherland's goal showed some skill, as he first won a head ball then beat the defender before sliding a shot passed the keeper to the back of the goal.
Daniel DeBottis (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) made two saves in goal for Oneonta today to pick up his sixth win of the season.
Nov. 3rd at Plattsburgh, W 2-1 (SUNYAC Finals)
The SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team is headed back to the NCAA Division III tournament after winning its second straight SUNYAC championship last Saturday against Plattsburgh, 2-1. Oneonta scored two late second half goals and then held off a late attack by Plattsburgh to secure its victory.
“We showed tremendous character to win in a difficult environment,” said head coach
Iain Byrne. “The game could have gone either way, but our class up front got us over the line with two great goals.”
Oneonta, which entered the championship ranked No. 4 in this week's NCAA East Region poll and the only SUNYAC school in the top nine, was looking to avenge an overtime loss to Plattsburgh back in October.
The two teams were playing each other for the fourth straight time in the SUNYAC tournament, but the first time in the conference championship game. In the previous three meetings, the two teams were even with a win, a loss and a tie. Last year, Oneonta defeated Plattsburgh 4-2 in the semifinals en route to winning the title. This year, the Red Dragons defeated the Cardinals to win the title.
The two teams battled each other for 78 minutes in a scoreless game before Oneonta finally got on the scoreboard in the 79th minute. Leading scorer, junior
Halberg, took a pass from freshman
Dylan Williams (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) on a counter attack. Halberg took the pass into the right side of the box and angled in toward the goal before putting a low shot into the far left corner of the goal for the 1-0 lead.
With Plattsburgh pressing, Oneonta got another break on a counter attack and scored its second goal. Freshman
Sutherland, who scored the game-winner yesterday, took the ball down the left flank and broke in towards the goal where he was able to slide a shot by the Plattsburgh keeper.
The Cardinals made the match interesting when they scored less than 30 seconds later on a header that deflected off the cross bar and straight down just over the goal line.
Plattsburgh had one more rush, which produced a weak attempt that was handled by Oneonta keeper
DeBottis. DeBottis won his seventh game of the season after making six saves in goal.
Plattsburgh did hold an advantage in both shots and corner kicks, but it was Oneonta that made the most of its late game opportunities.
Senior
Dan Scott (Hyde Park/FD Roosevelt), who has anchored the Oneonta defense all season, was selected as the tournament MVP. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Sutherland, classmate
Volpe and sophomore
Mitchell Cain (Marcy/Whitesboro).
Oneonta, which has only been eligible for the NCAA Division III tournament since 2008, is looking to return to San Antonio, the site for this year's national championship weekend. First and second round games will take place next weekend on campus sites around the country. This year's field of 64 teams will be announced on Monday afternoon at 1pm.
“We are looking forward to the tournament,” stated Byrne. “We know what it's about this time around and we will be ready to go as far as we can.”
Women’s Soccer (12-7-1/7-2 SUNYAC)
Nov. 2nd vs. Fredonia, W 3-1 (SUNYAC Semifinals)
The SUNY Oneonta women's soccer team advanced past Fredonia last Friday, 3-1, in the semifinals of the SUNYAC tournament being held at Roberts Wesleyan University. The Red Dragons will now battle its rival Red Dragons of SUNY Cortland for the conference title tomorrow at 1pm, also at Roberts Wesleyan. The winner of tomorrow's championship game will earn the automatic berth into the field of 65 for this year's NCAA Division III tournament, which begins next weekend with first and second round games.
Oneonta jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half and then got an insurance goal in the waning minutes to secure the victory. Junior
Karly DeSimone (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Red Dragons, who outshot the Blue Devils 18-16 in the match.
“It was a total team effort today,” said head coach
Liz McGrail. “All of our goals came from three different players and our defense gave us a solid effort. It was nice to avenge our earlier loss to Fredonia and we look forward to tomorrow's rematch with Cortland.”
In its regular season meeting back on Sep. 22, Oneonta lost 2-1 in overtime at Cortland.
Oneonta scored its first goal in the 14th minute when freshman
Kayla Ceschini (Miller Place/Miller Place) scored an unassisted goal from six yards out into the lower right corner. It was Ceschini's fourth goal of the season.
In the 27th minute, junior
Alaina Greco (Ballston Spa/Ballston Spa) took a pass from DeSimone and rattled home her fourth goal of the season to make it 2-0.
Fredonia made the match interesting in the 60th minute when they cut Oneonta's lead in half. A Blue Devil was in the right place to put home a shot that came off the post after it was initially saved by
Rori Stark (Brewster/Brewster).
DeSimone scored her unassisted goal in the 88th minute when she was able to get a shot off in a crowd in front of the goal.
Nov. 3rd vs. Cortland, L 1-2 (SUNYAC Finals)
A late goal by Kelly Knight lifted SUNY Cortland to the SUNYAC championship, as they edged SUNY Oneonta 2-1 in the conference title match at Roberts Wesleyan University last Saturday.
Oneonta, who was ranked No. 5 in the NCAA East Region poll a week ago, is hoping to qualify for its 14th NCAA tournament.
Cortland didn't waste any time in getting on the scoreboard this afternoon, as Samantha Gardner scored from 25 yards out in the third minute of play. Despite being outshot 6-2 in the opening half, Cortland protected its one-goal lead into halftime.
Oneonta got the equalizer in the 54th minute on a goal by freshman
Ceschini. Ceschini, who scored in the previous day's semifinal win against Fredonia, took a short pass from junior
DeSimone inside the box and slid a shot past Cortland keeper Taylor Hudson. Hudson finished the game with nine saves.
Field Hockey (12-7)
Nov. 2nd at New Paltz, L 1-3
The SUNY Oneonta field hockey team dropped the opening round match of the SUNYAC Tournament on the road to New Paltz, 3-1.
The Hawks got on the board in the 21st minute off a penalty corner to put one past the Red Dragon goalkeeper. New Paltz doubled its lead at 31:05.
While the Hawks held a 5-1 edge in shots in the first half, the Red Dragons countered with 10 shots in the final 35 minutes of play.
Oneonta made it a one-goal game at 45:26, as sophomore
Andrea Day (Greene/Greene) scored off an
Ashley Morgan (Putnam Valley/Putnam Valley) feed. The Red Dragons continued to push toward netting the equalizer, and they even held the Hawks scoreless while one of their players sat out with a yellow card late in the second half. New Paltz, however, received an insurance score in the final minute of play from Lizotte, who directed a pass from junior defender Alyssa Stock into the back of the cage.
Tess Tracy (Liverpool/Liverpool), suffered the loss, making one save. Oneonta's
Bridgette Robinson (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) also contributed to the Red Dragons' defense with one defensive save.
Wrestling
Nov. 3rd at Monarch Invitational, 4th place with 77.4 points
The SUNY Oneonta wrestling team opened its 2012-13 season last Saturday at the Monarch Invitational hosted by King's College. The Red Dragons came home with a fourth place finish overall while placing five individuals in the top six in their respective weight classes. SUNY Cortland was the overall team champion with 147 points. Oneonta scored 77.5 points.
The five place-winners for Oneonta included sophomore
Alex Pugh (Morrisville/Peru) at 125 lbs. (4th place), junior
Ben Mikac (Williamsville/Williamsville East) at 133 lbs. (5th place), freshman
Jacob Goddeau (Peru/Peru) (5th place) and sophomore Dan Romancyzk (6th place) at 141 lbs. and freshman
Shaun Gillen (Bohemia/Connetquot) at 165 lbs. (4th place).
Pugh won his first two matches of the day including a 6-4 overtime win against the No. 4 seeded; Jamie Scarantino of King's to advance into the semifinals. In the semis, he lost via tech fall (16-0) to the top seed in the bracket to fall into the consolation bracket. He pinned Dan Roger of Roger Williams then fell 8-4 to Paul Fields of SUNY Cortland to finish fourth.
Mikac was the top seed in his weight class, but was upset in his opening match to fall down to the consolation bracket. He ran off four straight wins including one by fall to reach the semifinals of the consolation bracket. He lost 7-2 to Joey Giaccio of York (Pa) before defeating Trevor Baez Hernandez of York, 5-3, to finish fifth.
Goddeau and Romancyzk each won their opening matches before falling into the consolation bracket at 141 lbs. The two advanced through the bracket and ended up facing each other in the 5th/6th place match where Goddeau won by medical forfeit.
Gillen lost a close 10-9 decision to Justin Signorelli of SUNY Cortland to fall into the consolation bracket at 165 lbs. Gillen then won four consecutive bouts to reach the final of the bracket where he fell 10-7 to Tommy Desir of King's.
On the day, 15 of Oneonta's 17 wrestlers won bouts, many of whom were freshman or sophomores.
