SUNY Oneonta men's soccer NCAA run halted by Calvin
San Antonio – The SUNY Oneonta men's soccer magical run through the NCAA Div. III tournament was halted tonight by the Calvin College Knights in the national semifinals, 4-2, thus ending its greatest season in nearly 40 years. The Red Dragons finish its season with a final record of 18-3-2, with the 18 wins being a single season record.
Oneonta scored the first and last goal in tonight's match, but in between, Calvin made the most of its limited opportunities. Oneonta finished the game with a 15-10 advantage in shots.
The opening half began with some fireworks as it was already 1-1 before the game reached 10 minutes. Oneonta scored first on a rocket off the foot of junior Jeff Christian (Middletown/Minisink Valley).
Junior Eric Fortier (Pleasant Valley/Arlington) moved the ball to the right flank to senior Gary Laronde (Wheatley Heights/Half Hollow Hills). Laronde carried the ball towards the middle of the field and sent a short pass to Christian who was following the play to just outside the top of the box. After settling the ball, Christian rifled a shot that found the upper right corner of the goal.
Oneonta's lead didn't last long as the Knights came right back three minutes later and tied the score on a header. Brad Heethius got his head on a crossing pass from the right side of the box by Sean Broekhuizen that just got inside the left post.
The action of the first half continued to go end-to-end with both teams searching for more opportunities to take a lead. That lead came for Calvin with a pair of goals just six minutes apart as they took a 3-1 lead.
Calvin's second goal came on a long pass from the right side of the field from about 40 yards out by Dan Nederhoed that was heading to the left side of the goal. Travis Vegter was able to get his head on the pass and redirect it by Oneonta keeper Maxwell Siegelman (Roslyn/Roslyn).
In the 34th minute, Calvin connected on a set piece where another long pass came into the box. This time the pass came from Joe Broekhuizen from the left side as he sent a ball that sailed to just outside the goal box on the right side of the goal. There, Brad Wassink collected the ball and chipped it over the head of Siegelman for the two-goal advantage.
The second half was still played at a torrid pace with Oneonta creating some scoring chances early in the half. With the score still 3-1, Oneonta junior Dan Josepher (Manorville/Eastport South Manor) had a shot inside the box go past the keeper. But before it could cross the line, a Calvin defender kicked it off the goal line to keep the score at 3-1.
A diving save by Siegelman on a breakaway by Calvin's Justin Ahearne in the 69th minute kept Oneonta within striking distance.
Seven minutes later, Vetger scored his second goal of the game in the 76th minute to put the Knights ahead by three goals. Josepher scored in the 86th minute on a direct kick for the final.
