The SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team found themselves in a three-goal hole midway through the first half, and battle as they did, they couldn't overcome the deficit falling to Rutgers Newark, 3-1, in the third round of the NCAA tournament. The Red Dragons finished the season with an overall record of 16-7-1 while advancing to the Sweet 16 for a third straight year.
"We were strong early and we just needed to put one in," said Head Coach Iain Byrne. "You find yourself down so quickly and it becomes an uphill battle."
In the first 10 minutes, Oneonta generated three scoring chances, but came away empty. Rutgers-Newark countered on one of the chances and hit the post on a blast from outside the box.
Rutgers first goal came out a through ball from about midfield that was chased down by Chigozie Atubi, who finished the play with a shot along the ground that found the inside of the left corner of the goal.
Three minutes later, it was Atubi once again for the Scarlet Raiders, as he collected a loose ball outside the box and dribbled to the center of the field at the top of the box and fired a shot that beat Ryan Wilson (Poughkeepsie/Arlington) who was diving inside the right corner.
Stefano Muniz capped the scoring in the 25th minute when he got behind Wilson who had stopped a shot by Isaiah Kuris. The momentum of the ball carried behind Wilson where Muniz finished the play by driving the ball over the goal line.
After some substitutions for Oneonta towards the end of the opening half, the second unit carried the play in the Rutgers end of the field putting pressure on their defense. Unfortunately, the Red Dragons came away empty and went to the break trailing 3-0.
Oneonta came out of halftime and immediately went on the attack looking to get on the scoreboard early. Oneonta earned multiple corner kicks in bunches nearly turning a couple into goals, but still were frustrated.
"I am proud of our guys," said Byrne. "They didn't quit. We kept attacking and fought hard. A lot of our younger guys played today, which will only help us going forward."
Oneonta's lone goal came with just over six minutes to play by freshman Witman Hernandez(Huntington/Walt Whitman). Hernandez knocked home a loose ball after senior Hans Purtell(Johnson City/Johnson City) had a shot saved. The original ball came into the box from senior Colin Volpe (Commack/St. Anthony's), who had the first shot that was batted down in front by the keeper, but not controlled.