CORTLAND, N.Y. -- The Brockport men's soccer team scored a goal in each half in defeating nationally sixth-ranked Cortland, 2-0, in the championship game of the SUNYAC Men's Soccer Tournament Saturday afternoon at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex. The Golden Eagles improved to 15-4-2 with the win and earned an automatic NCAA Div. III playoff berth. The Red Dragons dropped to 15-2-3 and await a possible at-large bid to the Div. III tournament.
Junior goalie
Sean Kelly (Coram/Newfield) made two saves for Cortland. His counterpart for Brockport, junior Tautis Poniskaitis (Rochester/St. Mary's C of E), registered six saves and was named the MVP of the tournament.
Senior Quintin Volpe (Commack/St. Anthony's) recorded a goal and an assist for the Golden Eagles. Junior Jeff Hibbard (Hilton) netted a goal, and junior Jason Hayes (Brockport) added an assist.
The game began with Cortland controlling much of the play, eventually leading to a 23-yard free kick in the sixth minute. Junior
Jake Keller (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) struck a shot that was headed for the upper left corner, but Poniskaitis made a diving save. Volpe put Brockport on the scoreboard in the 21st minute, sending a header inside the right post off a cross from the right by Hayes. Four minutes later, Keller narrowly missed with a shot from the right side that went by the left post. In the 42nd minute, Poniskaitis punched a header by senior
Migell Ormsby (Kingston, Jamaica/DeWitt Clinton) over the crossbar, and Brockport took a 1-0 lead into the half.
The Golden Eagles picked up in insurance goal in the 54th minute when Hibbard finished off a long serve from Volpe with a header deep in the box. Minutes later, Ormsby just missed wide right with a 25-yard shot. As Cortland pressed to get on the scoreboard, Ormsby was again denied by Poniskaitis, who made a point-blank save in the 83rd minute as the Golden Eagles held on for the 2-0 win.
Joining Poniskaitis on the All-Tournament Team were Volpe, Hibbard and freshman Matthew Stefaniw (Rochester/Eastridge) from Brockport; Keller, Ormsby and junior
Miguel Tunas (Carmel/North Salem) from Cortland; Kevin Doorley and John Guzzo from New Paltz; and Austin Hughes and Nicholas Plate from Oneonta.
Brockport 2, Cortland 0
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Brockport: Quintin Volpe 1-1, Jeff Hibbard 1-0, Jason Hayes 0-1
Cortland: no scoring
Halftime: Brockport 1, Cortland 0
Shots: Cortland 16, Brockport 5
Corner Kicks: Cortland 5, Brockport 3
Fouls: Brockport 14, Cortland 11
Saves: Tautis Poniskaitis (Brockport) 6 (0 GA in 90:00);
Sean Kelly (Cortland) 2 (2 GA in 190:00)
Record after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 15-2-3, (ranked 6th in Div. III); Brockport (Golden Eagles) 15-4-2
