Box Score
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – In a rematch of last year’s State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) championship game, Tom Greene’s goal with 1:24 gone in the second overtime gave the Plattsburgh State men’s soccer team a 3-2 win against Oneonta State Saturday afternoon at the Field House Soccer Complex.
Recent meetings between the two teams have been hard-fought battles and Saturday proved to be no different as both teams finished with 12 shots a piece. Nine of the Cardinals shots found the target while the Red Dragons had three shots on goal. Oneonta State (7-4-1, 4-2-0 SUNYAC) took seven corner kicks, while Plattsburgh State (13-1-0, 4-1-0 SUNYAC) had five.
The Cardinals controlled much of the play in the first half and held a 2-1 lead at the half. Sophomore forward Nick Parrella opened the scoring for Plattsburgh at 5:34 when he was able to pick up a loose ball in a scrum and find the back of the net to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead. Joe Aratari assisted on Parrella’s fourth of the year.
Oneonta State evened the score in the 13
th minute when Jeff Christian blasted a shot from about 20 yards out that beat Plattsburgh keeper Zack Kruizenga.
Plattsburgh regained the lead at 24:53 when a header by Parrella made its way to Greene, who was able to put it by Oneonta’s Colan Balkwell for his first of the afternoon.
The Red Dragons came out strong in the second half, outshooting Plattsburgh 10-4. With the Cardinals on their heels, Christian scored his second goal of the game at 61:44 to give Oneonta the equalizer.
The two teams remained tied through the first overtime, but Parrella fired a pass into the box early in the second half that found Greene again. Greene turned, made a move around a Red Dragon player and put the ball to the right of Daniel DeBottis to give the Cardinals the win in dramatic fashion.
Kruizenga made his second straight start in the Plattsburgh net, recording one save to improve to 3-0-0 on the year. Balkwell got the start for the Red Dragons and allowed two goals while making two saves. DeBottis took over for Oneonta in the second half and made four stops in the loss.
The Cardinals continue conference play next weekend as their final road trip of the regular season takes them to Western New York. Plattsburgh travels to Fredonia State Friday for a 4 p.m. matchup before wrapping up the weekend at Buffalo State for a 1 p.m. game.
