Men’s Soccer (11-4-4)
Nov. 6th vs. Plattsburgh, L 0-1 (SUNYAC Tournament Semifinals)
A goal in the 44th minute of the match stood up, as the Plattsburgh Cardinals eliminated SUNY Oneonta in the semifinals of the SUNYAC men's soccer tournament.
Oneonta will now have to wait to see if they will receive a pool C berth into the NCAA tournament when the field is announced on Monday, Nov. 11 at 1pm.
The Plattsburgh goal came on a counter attack when the Cardinal player carried the ball into the box and took a shot that went by Oneonta keeper,
Vincent Pellegrino (Baldwin/Baldwin), and appeared to be heading wide, but deflected off a charging Oneonta defender trying to get back into the play to stop the ball.
Both teams had multiple, dangerous scoring opportunities throughout the match. The contest could have easily had more scoring if not for the two keepers and a couple of posts and cross bars. Both keepers made some big stops to keep the score where it was.
Pellegrino had five stops. Both made a couple of diving stops that prevented further damage.
Oneonta finished the contest with an 18-11 advantage in shots and a 9-5 advantage in corner kicks.
Women’s Soccer (11-4-3)
Nov. 6th vs. Brockport, W 2-1 (SUNYAC Tournament Semifinals)
Senior
Karly DeSimone (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) scored both goals last Wednesday to lead the SUNY Oneonta women's soccer team past Brockport, 2-1, in the semifinals of the SUNYAC tournament. The win for the Red Dragons gives them another home game on Saturday, as they play for its first conference title since 2010.
The day's match was the fifth time that the two squads had met in the tournament and the first since the 2008 championship game. With today's victory, Oneonta is now 4-0-1 against Brockport while outscoring them 12-3.
The Red Dragons held the advantage in play and chances throughout the entire match. A goal in the 85th minute was the only blemish in a game that was dominated statistically by the Red Dragons.
"The team is playing well at the right time," said coach
Liz McGrail. "We have really grown as a team this year. We have several players that can step up and make an impact on the game at any time, which makes it hard for opponents."
Both of DeSimone's goals came in the opening half of play. Her first score came out of a loose ball in close on a corner kick. The initial opportunity was on a header directed towards the goal by senior
Melissa Guglielmo (Somers/Somers), which was blocked in front by a defender. DeSimone didn't even let the ball settle before getting off a shot that ended up in the back of the goal for the 1-0 lead.
DeSimone's second goal came on what was a hard shot from outside the box that deflected off a defender and changed direction enough to get by the Brockport keeper in the 41st minute. The keeper anticipated just a bit too much and couldn't recover in time as the ball rolled past her into the goal.
"It was a great team effort today," said DeSimone. "The team is coming together at the perfect time in the season. We are looking forward to Saturday."
Oneonta outshot Brockport 10-4 while holding an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Oneonta keeper,
Kelley Murphy (Albany/Colonie Central), made two saves for the Red Dragons in the match while her counterpart, Laura Thompson, made five stops.
Oneonta will play SUNY Geneseo on Saturday beginning at 1pm. Geneseo knocked off Buffalo State today in Buffalo 2-1. The Red Dragons are in the championship game for the second straight year, as they seek their 14th conference title.
Field Hockey (12-7)
Nov. 2nd at RPI, L 1-2
The SUNY Oneonta field hockey team was edged out in their final regular season game on the road at Rensselaer 2-1.
Rensselaer opened the scoring in the 18th minute and would take the lead into the halftime intermission.
The Engineers would add a second goal at the 41:59 mark off a hard shot from the top of the circle that was tipped in.
Oneonta would cut the score to 2-1 three minutes later. Senior
Ashley Morgan (Putnam Valley/Putnam Valley) took the penalty corner pass from
Andrea Day (Greene/Greene) and hammered home the ball.
Rensselaer held an advantage in both shots and penalty corners, 15-6 and 14-5 respectively.’
Volleyball (18-18)
Nov. 1st & 2nd in Dig Pink Invitational
vs. Bard, W 3-0; vs. Hunter, W 3-1; vs. Ithaca, W 3-1; vs. Plattsburgh, W 3-1
The SUNY Oneonta women's volleyball team closed out its 2013 season last weekend by winning the two-day, Dig Pink Invitational, which they hosted.
Highlighting the Invitational was three Red Dragons being named to the All-Tournament Team led by senior
Erica Darpino (Endicott/Union-Endicott), who was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the event. Joining Darpino were her sister,
JJill Darpino (Endicott/Union Endicott) and junior
Becca Horton (Owego/Owego Free Academy).
On the opening day of the tournament, Oneonta defeated both Bard College and Hunter College to qualify for the championship bracket. The Red Dragons swept Bard (25-9, 25-7, 25-8) while defeating Hunter in four sets (25-22, 19-25, 25-13, 25-22).
In the match against Bard, senior
Natalia Poljak (Brewster/Brewster) led the attack with eight kills. Freshman
Erin Avery (Harpursville/Harpursville) had five service aces and sophomore
Kristen Polan (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) had five blocks to lead Oneonta in those categories.
Against Hunter, three players registered 11 kills including the Darpino sisters along with freshman
Paige Carpluk (Yaphank/Bellport). Sophomore
Karly Greco (East Patchogue/Bellport) had a team high 21 assists while senior
Kristina Pelaccio (Verplanck/Hendrick Hudson) had a team best 14 digs.
Oneonta's first match on day 2 in the championship bracket was versus Ithaca, whom they had swept just a week ago at home. Yesterday it would take four sets to dispose of the Bombers to set up the championship match with SUNYAC foe Plattsburgh.
The Darpino sisters came up huge against Ithaca, combining for 30 kills and eight blocks. Horton had a team high 22 assists and six aces.
Against Plattsburgh, Oneonta had an opportunity to avenge a loss to the Cardinals from conference pool play. The Red Dragons did just that, as they defeated Plattsburgh in four sets (25-11, 25-19, 11-25, 25-18).
E. Darpino led Oneonta with 11 kills and four blocks in the match. Senior
Katie Sheehan (Bellmore/John F. Kennedy) recorded nine aces, which was the first time since 2009 that an Oneonta player had that many aces in one set.
Men’s Cross Country
Nov. 2nd in SUNYAC Championships, 4th place with 113 pts.
The SUNY Oneonta men's cross country team came away with a fourth place finish last Saturday at the SUNYAC cross country championships. Hosting the event at Fortin Park in the Town of Oneonta, the men scored 113 points and finished behind Fredonia, SUNY Cortland and SUNY Geneseo. Cortland won the men's championship with a near perfect score of 20 points.
The men were led in the race by freshman
David Busby (New Paltz/New Paltz), who was 25th overall, but was 20th in the scoring. He finished the 8K race in a time of 26:06.
Rounding out the top-7 for the Red Dragons was junior
Charles Remillard (Peru/Peru) (29th), senior Mitch Todorov (30th), senior
Tom Haskins (Tully/Tully) (33rd), junior
Bobby Gallant (Scotia/Scotia-Glenville) (36th) and freshmen
Jean-Paul Scott (Fairport/Fairport) (42nd) and
Anthony Lupia (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) (46th).
Women’s Cross Country
Nov. 2nd in SUNYAC Championships, 2nd place with 86 pts.
The SUNY Oneonta women's cross country team battled last Saturday and came away with its best finish ever at the SUNYAC cross country championships. Hosting the event at Fortin Park in the Town of Oneonta, the women edged rival SUNY Cortland by three points to finish second overall with 86 points. SUNY Geneseo scored 26 points to win its fourth consecutive conference title.
With the Blue Knights running away with the title, the real battle for Oneonta was for second place. At last year's championship it was Cortland that edged Oneonta by three points to claim second place.
Led by senior
Danielle Kennedy (Stony Point/Albertus Magnus), who placed second (22:06) in the race just five seconds behind the winner, the Red Dragons managed to put its top-7 runners in the top-35 to match Cortland, but Oneonta's runners were just a bit better overall to overtake them. Oneonta's seventh runner was freshman
Rachael Shine (Clifton Park/Clifton Park), who was two scoring points ahead of Cortland's seventh runner, which proved to be the difference maker today.
Kennedy's finish was the highest for an Oneonta women's runner all-time. It was also the third straight year she finished in the top-5 overall in the race, which is also a first for the women's program. Kennedy's performance earned her First Team All-Conference honors for a third straight year.
If Oneonta is looking to the future of its women's program, they only need look at its top-7 today, as five of the runners are in their first season with the Red Dragons. Freshmen
Mary Kate Bida (Millbrook/Millbrook) (15th),
Elizabeth Chichester (Mount Morris/Mount Morris) (30th),
Samantha Wilks (Endwell/Maine Endwell) (32nd) and Shine along with sophomore
Alyssa Drapeau (Glenville/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) (17th) showed that there is a tremendous upside for the women for years to come. Bida's finish earned her Third Team All-Conference honors.
Oneonta's final runner in the top-7 was junior
Jaclyn Masucci (Staten Island/St. Joseph by the Sea), who was 22nd overall.
Wrestling
Nov. 2nd at Monarch Invitational at King’s College, 4th place with 66 pts
The SUNY Oneonta wrestling team opened its 2013-14 season last Saturday with a fourth place finish at the Monarch Invitational hosted by King's College. The Red Dragons had three wrestlers finish in the top-3 led by sophomore
Shaun Gillen (Bohemia/Connetquot), who was second at 165 lbs. Seniors
Ben Mikac (Williamsville/Williamsville East) and
Chad Obzud (Troy/Lansingburgh) were both third in their respective weight classes of 141 lbs. and 197 lbs.
Gillen, who is a returning NCAA qualifier for Oneonta, was 3-1 with one pin in the tournament. Gillen was seeded first in his bracket and fell in the championship match to No. 3 seeded, Tommy Desir of King's, 6-3. His pin came in his first match of the day in 43 seconds against Thomas Palumbo of Western New England University.
Mikac, who is moving up a weight class for the Red Dragons this season, was 5-1 on the day. All of Mikac's wins were by decision and his only blemish on the day was a 9-5 loss to Sean McAllister of Western New England University. In the third place match, Mikac defeated Ian Evans of Scranton University.
Obzud picked up where he left off last winter when he was in the top-5 in Division III in pins. Yesterday, he was 4-1 with three of his four victories coming via the pin. Obzud posted back-to-back pins to advance into the semifinals where he fell to top-seeded, Joey Giaramita of SUNY Cortland, 8-0. Obzud posted another pin in the consolation semifinals over Mike Frizinia of Western New England in 38 seconds.
Other wrestlers who recorded winning records for the tournament included senior
Brian Barry (Poughkeepsie/Arlington) (3-2) at 125 lbs., sophomore
Noah Valastro (Hudson Falls/Hudson Falls) (3-2, 1 pin) at 141 lbs., sophomore
Curt Rowley (Duanesburg/Duanesburg) (5-2, 3 pins) at 149 lbs., freshman
Liam Bass (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) (3-2, 3 pins) at 174 lbs., and junior
Connor Murphy (Center Moriches/Center Moriches) (3-2, 1 pin) at 285 lbs.
