Cortland, N.Y. – The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) men's soccer as a conference is as strong as it's been in recent history, they currently have three teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation on the NCAA DIII United Soccer Coaches Poll with Oneonta ranked seventh, Buffalo state at 14th and Cortland holding the #18 spot. In the NCAA East Region Cortland is ranked first followed by Buffalo State at #2 while Plattsburgh is ranked sixth. The SUNYAC has decided to focus on the unpredictable 2010 SUNYAC men's soccer championship tournament as this week's Throwback Thursday.
2017 NCAA DIII Men's Soccer National Rankings
2017 NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Regional Rankings
Parity throughout the conference is great because it leads to close and competitive regular season contests that create a highly anticipated and exciting championship tournament. In the five games played between the play-in games, semifinals and the finals of the 2010 tournament there was one game that ended in regulation, one game that ended with a game-winner in double overtime, and three games that took penalty kicks after two overtime frames to determine a winner.
The first play-in game saw the only regulation game of the tournament as three-seeded Brockport defeated six-seeded Cortland, 1-0. The second play-in game was an even battle between the fourth seed Plattsburgh and fifth seed Geneseo that saw the Cardinals take the victory in penalty kicks.
The semifinals is where the real drama started. The first match-up saw fourth seeded Plattsburgh pull off an unpredictable upset of top seed Oneonta in penalty kicks after the game was knotted at two goals a piece after double overtime. The second contest also provided an upset, as the third seed Brockport took down second seed Fredonia on late game-winning goal in the second overtime frame.
The final match between Plattsburgh and Brockport, was a closely fought, back and forth battle. The Cardinals took an early lead scoring in the eighth minute and heading into the half up 1-0. The Golden Eagles evened up the game on a goal in the 54th minute of the second half. Both overtimes came and went, the penalty-kick shootout ended 5-4 in favor of Plattsburgh and the highest seed remaining after the play-in games became the 2010 SUNYAC champions.
2010 SUNYAC Men's Soccer All-Tournament Team
2010 SUNYAC Men's Soccer Tournament Results:
