Abigail Hubbard, Editor-in-Chief |
SUNY Oneonta Men’s Soccer team defeated both Clarkson and St. Lawrence last weekend to win the 2021 Mayor’s Cup. Both games took place on the Red Dragon Field, Clarkson on Saturday and St. Lawrence on Sunday. Oneonta played well on all fronts during the games, holding their opponents off to win 4-2 against Clarkson and 2-1 against St. Lawrence.
There was quite the crowd for the Oneonta v. Clarkson game on Saturday. Oneonta started the scoring early in the game with junior Alex Sipos scoring a goal from the top of the box just 18 minutes into the game. Clarkson retaliated during the 26th minute when Logan Drake crossed the ball towards the goal, where Oneonta goalkeeper, junior Nate Hanna, managed to deflect it. Unfortunately, the defense was unable to get to the ball in time and Drake took another shot that went in, tying the game 1-1. The next goal wasn’t scored until after halftime, with Clarkson taking the lead from a goal by James Nicholas in the 51st minute. Just seven minutes later, Sipos scored again with an assist from senior Matt Howe and tied the game up again at 2-2. Oneonta very quickly took the lead when junior Lucas Fecci scored mere seconds after Sipos’s goal. Clarkson didn’t have a response to Oneonta’s goals and the Red Dragons capped off the game with a fourth goal during the 85th minute from senior Jeremy Pantoni. Pantoni got an assist from senior Tristan Battistoni and was able to fight off the Clarkson defenders long enough to get in position to score. Clarkson couldn’t make up the deficit and Oneonta took the victory.
The scoring during the Oneonta v. St. Lawrence game started even earlier than the Clarkson game, with St. Lawrence scoring within the first 7 minutes of the game. Andrew Terhune got an assist from Robert Reynolds and got the ball past Hanna. Oneonta fired back with Fecci scoring a goal for Oneonta two minutes later with an assist from Pantoni, bringing the score to 1-1. The rest of the first half went by scoreless and there wasn’t another goal until the 71st minute. Oneonta got a free kick due to a foul and junior Ian Zingaro took it, sending the ball towards the goal. Howe was able to direct a header backwards over a defender and past the St. Lawrence keeper, pushing Oneonta ahead 2-1. Oneonta was able to hold off St. Lawrence until the end of the game, winning them the Mayor’s Cup.
Fecci was named as the Offensive MVP of the tournament and Battistoni was named as the Defensive MVP. Howe, Sipos, and Pantoni were named to the All-Tournament Team, along with junior Malcolm Swett.
These wins give the Red Dragons a record of 3-0-1 to start the season. They had a draw against RPI on Sept. 4, but beat Mass Boston on Sept. 6, 2-1 with goals scored by Howe and Sipos. Oneonta plays RIT next at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18 at the Red Dragon Field. Go down and support your Red Dragons!
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