Casey Ryder, Contributing Writer |
The SUNY Oneonta men’s soccer team had a dominant 6-0 win this past Saturday vs Potsdam on a day when the team honored its senior class as well as former goalkeeper coach John Hayen who tragically passed away last October.
The Red Dragons opened the scoring in the 8th minute with some nice combination plays leading to Lucas Fecci, finishing from just inside the 18. Potsdam did well to make the game competitive for the following 20 minutes but that all came to a halt in the 35th minute when Oneonta won a penalty kick. Senior defender Tristan Battistoni calmly converted to put the Red Dragons up 2-0.
The second half is where the team really established its dominance, and the difference in class between the Oneonta Red Dragons and the Potsdam Bears showed. That all began in the 48th minute when Fecci playing on the left wing beat his man and then cut inside and fired the ball into the top corner to increase the lead. That makes it 8 goals in 9 games for the man from Somers, NY who’s been tearing it up so far this season. Just a few minutes later in the 53rd minute, Fecci fed senior forward Matt Howe who placed the ball into the bottom corner to put the Red Dragons up 4.
Throughout the second half head coach Iain Byrne was able to go to the bench and give playing time to guys who typically don’t get to play very much. One of the beneficiaries of this was senior midfielder Giddel Alvarado who in the 59th minute fired home a rebound from an Ian Zingaro shot. That put the team up 5-0 with about 30 minutes remaining, so the rest of the game was comfortable for the Red Dragons. Then in the 87th minute, freshman midfielder David Vides capped off the performance by getting in behind the Potsdam backline and calmly chipping the ball over their goalie to make it 6-0, which is ultimately how the game would finish.
Speaking after the match, Oneonta head coach Iain Byrne said “The result really flatters us, the first half was competitive, Fecci got the third goal right after halftime, and I felt that it kinda killed the game a little bit and took the pressure off us. Anytime you’re relaxed and you’re playing it’s easier to knock it around and it was a good day for the seniors, Giddel got a goal, Frank got a shutout in his first game of the year in goal, he’s been a standout goalie for us for the last four years and so it was good to see the seniors enjoy the day on senior day. Also recognizing John Hayen, we did a tribute to John and as a goalie coach himself, to get a shutout was kinda nice for John.”
One of the players most responsible for that shutout was senior goalkeeper Francesco Scotti who played every minute before being subbed out in the 83rd minute. Speaking on the performance of the defense Scotti said, “We looked solid, there weren’t that many shots on target so we just gotta keep improving every week and it was good to get the shutout.” Scotti was one of the seniors honored before the game and said about his time at Oneonta “It’s a great soccer program and I’ll always remember playing soccer but what I’ll probably remember most is my teammates and all the friendships I made here that I’ll probably have for a lifetime.”
Next up for the team is a home game against SUNY New Paltz on Saturday Oct. 9 at 3p.m. at the Red Dragon Field. Get out and support your Red Dragons!
Leave a Reply