The duo of senior Cory Santangelo (Sayville/Sayville) and freshman Roberto Ventura (Brentwood/Brentwood) helped each other today in helping to lead the SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team to a 2-1 win at home against the visiting Plattsburgh Cardinals.  The win for the Red Dragons was its fourth straight in the SUNYAC and pushed its overall record to 8-1-1.  The loss for the Cardinals dropped them to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
 
"In the first half, we never matched Plattsburgh's energy," said Head Coach Iain Byrne.  "But in the second half it was a different story and we got on top.  Cory and Roberto combined well on both goals, but it was a wonder save late in the game by Gio that locked up the win."
 
With Oneonta leading 2-1 in the 81^st minute, junior keeper Nicholas Giordano (East Northport/Commack) came up with the game-saving stop.  The Cardinals were pressuring when the ball came into the box just in front of Giordano.  The ball bounced off a couple of heads before settling in front of Bryan Kilpatrick who fired a shot that was labeled for the back of the goal.  As the shot was heading in that direction, Giordano stuck out his left hand to make the save and deflect the ball off to the side.
 
The Red Dragons got on the scoreboard early in this match on Santangelo's fourth goal of the season.  Ventura gathered the ball and raced into the box before sending a pass to the middle of the box where Santangelo was crashing the goal.  Santangelo wasted no time in one-timing a shot that the Plattsburgh keeper had no chance of stopping.
 
The Cardinals outshot the Red Dragons 5-1 in the first half and made the fourth one count in tying the game at 1-1 in the 25^th minute.  Chris Robertson created the opportunity by moving into the box on the far right side before sending a pass all the way across the box where Alex Price tracked it down.  Price didn't hesitate and turned and shot the ball along the ground that beat Giordano who was charging at him.
 
The eventual game-winner was scored in the 68^th minute when Ventura scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season.  Santangelo set the play with a pass from outside the box that floated over the defense to the right post.  Ventura swooped in and hit a perfect volley that went directly to the back of the goal.
 
Giordano finished the match with five saves.  Oneonta outshot Plattsburgh in the second half 9-4 to give them a 10-9 advantage for the game.
 
Oneonta will host Potsdam tomorrow on Red Dragon Field beginning at 1pm.