BUFFALO, N.Y.—The nationally No. 7 ranked SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team found themselves in a tight battle today at No. 14 Buffalo State and earned an important point.  The two squads battled each other for 110 minutes and finished with a scoreless draw.
 
The importance of earning the point for Oneonta (11-1-2/6-1-1 SUNYAC) was that it kept them one point ahead of Buffalo State (12-1-3/5-0-3 SUNYAC) in the chase for second place in the SUNYAC standings and a bye for the opening round of the conference tournament that begins next weekend.
 
"Credit to Mark (Howlett) who has built a terrific team who are dominant at home," said Head Coach Iain Byrne.  "We battled for 110 minutes and a draw was probably a fair result."
 
Buffalo State (12-1-3/5-0-3 SUNYAC) possessed the ball for much of the first half and held a 6-2 advantage in shot attempts in the opening 45 minutes.
 
Oneonta (11-1-2/6-1-1 SUNYAC) began to tilt the field in its favor in the early going of the second half, but the Bengals generated the best scoring chance of the game in the 61st minute when Sofiane Hamadi intercepted a ball that was misplayed by a Red Dragon defender.  His first attempt was turned aside by junior Nicholas Giordano (East Northport/Commack), who has come up with some big saves this fall, and his second-chance bid bounded wide.
 
The Red Dragons held a narrow 10-9 edge in shot attempts at the end of regulation.
 
Both teams tightened up even further in the overtime periods, with a total of three shot attempts, including two by Buffalo State.  Shots for the game finished even at 11-11.
 
Giordano recorded three saves in the match to collect his seventh shutout of the season while Bengals' keeper Andreas Queen needed only two saves for his ninth shutout of the season.
 
Oneonta will play again tomorrow at Fredonia beginning at 1pm.