Oneonta Sports Information Department
ONEONTA, N.Y. -- For the first time since 2016 the SUNY Oneonta men's soccer team has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA DIII Tournament. The Red Dragons defeated the Tuft University Jumbos 2-0 Sunday afternoon, with the goals coming from senior Lucas Fecci (Somers, N.Y./Somers) and junior John Bernardi (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac).
"That was a tremendous team effort with two brilliant goals," said Head Coach Iain Byrne. "Tufts were so strong, but we defended well in the second half and kept another clean sheet."
As of late, the defensive backline of graduate student Tristan Battistoni (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington), senior Malcolm Swett (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead), junior John Bernardi (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac), and senior goalie Nate Hanna (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) have been a deciding factor in the games, allowing zero goals in the SUNYAC and NCAA Tournaments. Today, they allowed less than a handful of shots on net.
The match was played between two well-coached teams, both that could in different styles light up the scoreboard in any possible minute. Their play went back and forth without many shots being registered in the early stages, however in the 22nd minute, the Red Dragons found their chance. Freshman Joe Holder (Greenwood Lake, N.Y./Warwick) had the ball near the corner of the Red Dragons attacking zone and kicked it back out to Battistoni. Battistoni sent a pass along the right sideline of the 18-yard box to senior Ethan Brunell (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) who centered it, passed two Jumbo defenders, to Lucas Fecci (Somers, N.Y./Somers) for a header and a 1-0 lead.
Following the goal, the Jumbos attempted to score an equalizer from deep, but Hanna made the easy stops. In the 25th minute, Woovin Shin received the ball off a throw in and from over 25 yards shot the ball right at Hanna. In the 27th Tufts sent in a corner that eventually was kicked out of the penalty area to James Gunn. Gunn took an open shot passed 20 yards out that landed into Hanna's chest.
Into the second half, the Jumbos could not find another chance to tie the game as the Red Dragons' backline either caused a bad pass or blocked their shot immediately, and in the 74th minute flipped the script and helped the offense make it a comfortable two-goal lead. Bernardi intercepted a pass and had a give and go with sophomore Owen Seigel at midfield. Once he got to the ball, Bernardi passed it forward to Fecci who passed it along the penalty box front line to Bernardi who beat the goalie on the lower left side of the net.
Oneonta's defense continued its great performance and shut down Tufts for the final 15 minutes, advancing them to the next round.
Hanna finished with three saves while Erik Lauta finished with two for the Jumbos.
Oneonta registered four shots on goal to Tufts' three, and both teams took four corner kicks.
The Red Dragons will play Bowdoin on Saturday in the Sweet 16 matchup. Bowdoin made it to the Sweet 16 after they defeated Merchant Marine 3-1 in the First Round and Vassar College in penalty kicks in the Second Round.
