Courtesy of Oneonta Sports Information Department
ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta men's soccer team worked through two overtimes and into the shootout before taking a 6-5 victory to advance past WPI and into the second round of the NCAA tournament. The clinching goal was put home by junior Justin Cebollero (Commack/Commack), who buried his shot and left no doubt about where it was going.
The two teams played to a scoreless draw through double overtime and were locked at 5-5 in the shootout before junior goalkeeper Nick Lindovski(Baldwinsville/Baldwinsville) stopped Paul Beatty of WPI (13-5-3) to set up the winning attempt by Cebollero.
"Today we found out how WPI won their conference, as they were a handful today," commented Head Coach Iain Byrne. "They defended in numbers and were dangerous on the counter attack. The pitch played lightning quick and it took us a while to get our passing game going, but overall I thought we played quite well without really causing WPI enough problems."
The two teams played even statistically in the opening half of play each recording six shots.
The first shot of the game came from Spencer Ralphs of WPI which was handled easily by keeper Nicholas Giordano (East Northport/Commack). Giordano finished the match with four saves.
Oneonta's first shot came one minute later off a header by Scott Cebollero (Commack/Commack) that came to rest on top of the goal. Oneonta's only other dangerous opportunity in the first half came off the foot of freshman Roberto Ventura (Brentwood/Brentwood) who hooked a shot just outside the right post.
Oneonta (15-1-3) began to possess the ball better in the second half, which generated more opportunities throughout the half. In the first 15 minutes, the Red Dragons had a couple of scoring chances that were just wide of the goal.
Oneonta nearly punched in a goal in the 77th minute on a header by senior Cory Santangelo (Sayville/Sayville). The Red Dragons earned a corner kick that was taken by junior Nicholas Plate (Miller Place/Sachem North). Plate served a ball in that was headed back out by a WPI defender. The ball was collected by Plate out in the left flank where he sent it back in towards the front of the goal. Santangelo redirected the pass towards the goal where it looked for certain that it was going to cross the goal line, but defender Luke Reiniger took the ball off the line with a diving kick and cleared the ball out. Sophomore Dominick Dabrowski (Patchogue/Patchogue-Medford) headed the ball back towards the goal, but it was controlled by the WPI keeper ending the threat.
WPI's last best chance in regulation came in the 81st minute when Brendan Nemes hit the outside of the left post on a shot from the top of the box.
"We gave the top team in the New York Region everything they could handle today," said WPI Head Coach Brian Kelley. "With a little more good fortune we could have advanced."
Kelley continued, "It was a tremendous season for WPI soccer. The leadership from our seniors, and particularly our captains, made it the best season since the early 90's."
Oneonta outshot the Engineers 6-3 in the overtime periods. Plate had a shot that just sailed wide of the left post in the 92nd minute. Santangelo had a shot in the 108th minute that was just tipped aside by the outstretched hand of Connor Hoeckele.
"I cannot ever remember us ever winning a penalty shootout," Byrne commented. "Kudos to the six guys that stood up and kept their nerve under pressure. Going into tomorrow, we are slightly the worse for wear, and we will need a huge effort after such a draining match today."
The Red Dragons will face Rochester in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Red Dragon Field beginning at 1pm. Rochester defeated Connecticut College 2-1 in overtime in today's second game.
