NEW PALTZ, NY — The SUNY New Paltz men s soccer team battled Union College through 90 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods before coming away with a 2-2 tie on the opening day of the Union Classic.
New Paltz (0-2-1) lit up the scoreboard just 18 seconds into the game when freshman Daniel Libardi (Canaan, NY) beat Union goalkeeper Kevin O Connor (Reston, VA). The Dutchmen (1-0-1) responded to tie the game at 1-1 at the 11:20 mark when senior Mike Carey (Westport, CT) took a pass from junior Aaron Iskowitz (Randolph, NJ) and put the ball past New Paltz junior netminder Brendan Morris (Hopewell Junction, NY).
Both teams fired 15 shots but the game remained deadlocked at 1-1 for the remainder of the first half and for most of the second half before senior Mario Lavacca (Port Washington, NY) gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead at the 85:19 mark when he scored off a feed from sophomore Matt Soranno (Sound Beach, NY).
The Dutchmen knotted the game at 2-2 just two minutes later and sent the game into overtime when senior Kevin Dolan (Lynnfield, MA) scored off an assist from freshman David Papa (Clifton Park, NY).
O Conner finished the game with 10 saves for Union and Morris made three stops for the Hawks. Tomorrow New Paltz will play RPI, at Union College, at 2:30 pm.
