ONEONTA, NY — The New Paltz men’s soccer team traveled to Oneonta today and fell to the Red Dragons 4-1. It was the first match-up between the two schools since 1989, which was the last season Oneonta played any Division III school. In 1989 New Paltz lost 1-0 and now has an all time record of 3-9 against the Red Dragons. Oneonta is currently in a two year reclassification process from Div. I to Div. III, which allows them to get reacquainted with its traditional rivals in the SUNYAC.
Oneonta jumped out to 1-0 lead in the first minute of play on an unassisted goal after a scramble in front of the net. New Paltz found the equalizer at nine minutes into the contest. Senior Joseph Fabian (Selden, NY/Newfield) was able to dribble around a defender to free himself for an opportunity and put the ball past Oneonta keeper Jonathan Korn.
The tie didn’t last long as three minutes later Oneonta regained the lead. The Red Dragons added another goal in the 23rd minute for the 3-1 lead, which carried into halftime.
The final goal of the game came in the 70th minute on a low shot into the lower right corner of the goal past New Paltz keeper Jeffrey Dudley (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill).
Korn made three saves in goal for the Red Dragons as Dudley took the loss in nets with five saves. The Hawks will return to action on Wednesday, October 18th when they host the SUNYIT Wildcats in a SUNYAC match-up at 3:00 p.m.
