Box Score ONEONTA, N.Y. – Senior goaltender
Jeremy Nash (West Springfield, Mass.) made eight saves as the Nichols College men's soccer team fell 2-0 to SUNY Oneonta in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon at the Red Dragons Soccer Field.
The Red Dragons – who rank No. 3 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll - remained one of two unbeaten squads still remaining in Division III with the win that also advanced them into the "Sweet 16" for the second time in the last four years. Messiah, who is the defending national champion, defeated Morrisville today, 1-0, to keep their record unbeaten at 20-0-1.
Oneonta (19-0-2) received a first round bye into today's contest and hosted Nichols (15-3-4), the champions of the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The two teams battled into the latter part of the contest before the Red Dragons pushed two goals across within a span of 1:30.
The 19th win for Oneonta also established a single season record, passing the mark of 18 from 2011 when the Red Dragons advanced to the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament.
"It's winter soccer and it's harder to score," said SUNY Oneonta coach Iain Byrne, who was selected as the SUNYAC Coach of the Year last week. "We had a couple of great chances to score in the first 10 minutes but we didn't convert."
The teams played to a scoreless first half but the Red Dragons had a great opportunity to score at 5:35. After some nice passing, the ball ended up at the feet of a wide-open junior Colin Volpe (Commack, N.Y.) who then struck a shot from 18 yards out that was saved by Nash.
SUNY Oneonta continued to show dominance on offense without scoring through the second half. In the 57th minute junior Jake Sutherland (Syracuse, N.Y.) centered a pass into the box to freshman Cory Santangelo (Sayville, N.Y.) who then had a clear look at the right side of the net but pushed it wide right.
The Bison's lone shot on goal came in the 75th minute. Junior
Tiago Prazeres's (West Hartford, Conn.) free kick attempt was blocked by a wall of Red Dragon defenders and bounced directly to sophomore
Tyler Brenner (Stuart, Fla.) who then fired a shot from forty yards away that was scooped up by senior goaltender Vincent Pellegrino (Baldwin, N.Y.).
The Red Dragons struck for their first goal at 83:05 when Santangelo was able to convert a pass from sophomore Hans Purtell (Johnson City, N.Y.), who made a great play to move by a defender and play the ball off the end line to Santangelo, who was unmarked in the box. Santangelo just had to push the ball into the open goal, as Nash moved out to intercept the cross. The goal for the SUNYAC Rookie of the Year was his team-leading 13th of the season.
SUNY Oneonta finished off the Bison just 1:20 later when Sutherland gave Oneonta a 2-0 lead when he headed in a service from sophomore Anthony Passiatore (South Setauket, N.Y.) on a corner kick.
Sophomore
David Melanson (Simsbury, Conn.) took three of the Bison's eight shots while five other student-athletes made up for the others. Sutherland paced the Red Dragons with seven shots.
Nash falls to 10-2-3 on the year after stopping eight shots. Pellegrino made one save and improves to 15-0-1 on the season.
"It was a great experience getting to the next round of the tournament," said 10th year Nichols coach
Chris Traina. "We knew what to expect and I tip my hat to Oneonta. I am very proud of my team. We were able to frustrate their attack and we created a few chances of our own, but fell short. I wish Iain and Oneonta the best of luck."
Oneonta will receive word about where they will be playing next weekend later tonight or early tomorrow. They will definitely be playing the winner of the Franklin and Marshall/Rochester match at F & M. The game will be played next Saturday, Nov. 22.
The four squads that survive next weekend's sectional round will advance to the NCAA national championship weekend in Kansa City, MO scheduled for Friday & Saturday, Dec. 5-6.
