On day one of the Mayor’s Cup, the Red Dragons showed discipline and fearlessness as they defeated St. Lawrence in a close, high contested game at home.
Freshman Impact
ONEONTA, N.Y. — Freshman Milton Mancias-Magana and senior Ian Zingaro scored their first goals of the season as the SUNY Oneonta men’s soccer team defeated St. Lawrence in game one of the 2022 Mayor Cup 3-2. With the narrow victory, The Red Dragons move to 3-0-0, while the Saints fall to 2-1-1.
It was Magana who scored first for Oneonta when he brought the ball into the box. Magana made a move to create some open space, and finished beautifully, surprising the keeper with a 27-minute screamer into the back of the net. It wasn’t long until Oneonta repeated with another. As the game was moving into the 34th minute, Saints’ keeper Ben Woelfinger made an illegal move with his hands after it was kicked to him by a teammate, which had the Red Dragons in position for a goal kick just in front of the six-yard box. The first goal scorer Magana gave it its initial touch, putting it into play for Ian Zingaro, and the freshman did not waste the opportunity. Zingaro scored to double the lead and celebrated with his teammates as his first collegiate goal was under his belt. By halftime, Oneonta led 2-0, with confidence and momentum completely on their side.
The Coach Speaks…
Head coach Iain Byrne had this to say about the Saints roster and makeup.
“St. Lawrence is always a tough opponent, and you can’t get the ball off them,” We played great in the first half,
and in the second we defended for our lives and managed to see it out.” With some strong
defense in the closing moments, the Red Dragons were in fact able to make interceptions and
control the ball for the majority of the contest.
Momentum Shift
In the second half, the Saints controlled the ball a bit and the momentum were shifted towards
them, as in the 54th minute, Sam Pijpers assisted Miles Levy, on what was truly a pristine goal
by St. Lawrence. As the score was cut in half for the moment, Byrne’s side quickly responded.
After being granted a corner kick, it was Zingaro who played the ball in to the box, and after a
first touch by Lucas Fecci, it was deflected to Joe Holder, and to his surprise, the net was open
because of the goalie using his effort to stop Fecci’s attempt. Instead, Fecci was the man for the
assist, and Holder scored the Dragons’ third goal of the game.
It wouldn’t be until the 82nd minute that St. Lawrence finally responded. As Oneonta controlled the game, they switched to a more defensive tactic, and keeper Nate Hanna did well to redirect four shots, except for the fifth one that slipped by him, and into the net. The goal scorer was Saints’ Max Mogul, who was able to slip past the Dragon defense for a moment. Switching completely defensive for the rest of the game, Oneonta held on, as they finished the match on a positive note, winning 3-2.
Dragons Hold On
Additionally, they controlled the clock, had more shots taken, and forced the Saints’ keeper to make seven saves. With the win, they have now won the first three games of their season and will look to keep it up in upcoming games.
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