SUNY New Paltz Men s Soccer Team Drops Conference Game to Buffalo State

NEW PALTZ, NY — In heartbreaking fashion, the SUNY New Paltz men s soccer team let a 2-0 lead slip away and lost 4-3 to conference rival Buffalo State this afternoon.

New Paltz opened up the scoring when senior forward Mario Lavacca (Port Washington, NY) scored a goal in the ninth minute on an assist by junior midfielder Bryan Smith (Washingtonville, NY). Two minutes later, the pair struck again with Smith setting up Lavacca s second goal of the game to put the Hawks ahead 2-0.

Trailing 2-1 at the half, sophomore defender Richard Namulala (Kenmore, NY) came off the bench to tie the game for the Bengals with a goal off of a penalty kick. Junior defender Matthew Romano (Eden, NY) set up junior forward Brian Miller s (Tonawanda, NY) go-ahead goal to give the Bengals a 3-2 lead. Romano had two assists on the day. Namulala added an insurance goal off a penalty kick with five minutes remaining in the game to put Biffalo State ahead 4-2.

Freshman midfielder Chris Smith (Washingtonville, NY) scored a goal for the Hawks with two minutes remaining as New Paltz tried to make a comeback.

Scoring: NP– Mario Lavacca (Bryan Smith) 9:20. NP- Lavacca (B. Smith) 11:33. BUFF- Jared Hulshoff (Matthew Romano) 43:07. BUFF- Rich Namulala (Penalty Kick) 60:52. BUFF- Brian Miller (Romano) 65:47. BUFF- Namulala (Penalty Kick) 85:05. NP- Chris Smith (Joe Fabian) 88:37.

Shots: Buffalo State 12, SUNY New Paltz 16 Saves: Shawn McDonell (Buffalo State) 6, Brendan Morris (SUNY New Paltz) 5