CORTLAND, NY - With just 17 seconds left on the game clock, senior Juan Velez (Cuenca, Ecuador) ripped a huge shot from well outside the box into the goal to stun the defending SUNYAC champs, #17 Cortland and earn Plattsburgh State men's soccer a tie on Saturday afternoon. The goal was the first of Velez's career in 22 games played, helping Plattsburgh pick up a big point in the SUNYAC standings.

The Cards move to 4-1-1 with the tie, as they have picked up a win and a tie since their first loss of the season. Cortland moves to 4-2-1 overall and picks up the tie in SUNYAC play to open their conference campaign. 

Against Cortland, the opening 45 minutes didn't see much action, as only five total shots were taken. Cortland took the lead in the 23rd minute as a long blast from Riley Williams found the net for a score.

Plattsburgh came out looking to make a statement in the second half, scoring their first goal of the game as Dylan Shalvey (Cavan, Ireland) knocked in his second goal of the season off of a saved Brian Coughlan (Pearl River, NY) shot. However, Cortland was able to answer that goal, with two scores of their own, coming within a four-minute span as they built a 3-1 lead.

Ten minutes after the third Red Dragon goal, Coughlan brought life into the Plattsburgh faithful with a 19-yard free kick that the sophomore bent inside the right post. Now trailing by just one goal, a tie was well within reach for the Cards. Four shots just missed their target for the Cardinals, as they created chance after chance down just one score. 

With time winding down, and under 30 seconds to go, Velez picked up a shoveled pass from John Hayes (Pearl River, NY), ripped the shot from deep outside of the goalie box, and pierced the bottom left of the net to send his teammates into a frenzy. With just 17 seconds left, nothing came of the final moments, as Cortland was stunned to walk away with a tie after leading by two goals with 20 minutes of game action remaining. 

The men's soccer team welcomes New Paltz to Plattsburgh on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 4 p.m. as the team will face last year's second-place finisher in the conference standings.