CORTLAND, N.Y. - The top-seeded and nationally ninth-ranked Cortland men's soccer team rallied from a 3-0 first-half deficit to finish in a 3-3 tie with fifth-seeded Oneonta in the SUNYAC tournament semifinals at Holloway Field, but Oneonta won the penalty kick shootout, 4-3, to advance to the conference championship game.
 
Cortland (12-1-5) extended its unbeaten streak to 14 games with the tie. The Red Dragons are in good shape to receive one of 21 at-large berths into the NCAA Division III tournament as they entered the day ranked 14th nationally in the NCAA Power Index (NPI), which is used to determine at-large bids. The NCAA brackets will be announced on Monday, Nov. 10, at 11:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.
 
Oneonta (11-4-4) will travel to second-seeded Buffalo State for the SUNYAC championship game on Saturday. Oneonta avenged a semifinal penalty kick elimination to Cortland in Oneonta in last year's semifinal round.
 
This year's matchup marked only the second time in Cortland's Division III history (starting in 1974) that the Red Dragons overcame a three-goal deficit in a game. In 2013 at Montclair State, Cortland rallied from 3-0 down to briefly tie the game at 3-3 before losing, 5-3.
 
Oneonta stunned Cortland early, scoring three times in the game's first 32 minutes against a squad that had allowed only five goals in 17 previous games. Luigi Prosperi netted the first two goals - he headed in a ball after a Zach Rabadi shot hit the crossbar in the 21st minute, and he tapped in a shot in the 25th minute after goalkeeper James Cintron's long ball down the left side found Sam Rogers, who crossed the ball to Prosperi.
 
The Oneonta lead grew to 3-0 in the 32nd minute on a header by Noah Hechler off a corner kick from Milton Mancias Magana.
 
The momentum shifted, however, after Cintron was given a red card in the 39th minute for denying a goal-scoring opportunity with a hand ball outside of the box. This not only forced Oneonta to play a man down the remainder of the game, but also led to Oneonta entering backup goalie Nico Osorio, a freshman who had played less than 40 minutes combined over two previous games this season.
 
Cortland capitalized immediately after the red card when Josh Carroll (Port Jefferson Station/Comsewogue) scored his 11th goal of the season on a free kick from straight on that found the bottom left of the net. Cortland closed to within 3-2 with 2:49 left in the half when Jake Hutter (Smithtown/Smithtown West) scored after his initial shot was blocked by a defender. The goal was Hutter's fourth of the season.
 
Oneonta held a 10-8 edge in shots in the first half, but Cortland outshot the guests in the second half, 13-4. The Red Dragons scored the equalizer in the 68th minute. Carroll took a shot that Osorio saved, but the ball went off the crossbar and Sebastian Olego knocked in the loose ball to tie the game.
 
The teams were scoreless the remainder of the second half plus two 10-minute "golden goal" overtime periods. Oneonta held a 4-2 edge in shots in the first period, with one of those attempts saved by Cortland goalkeeper Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian). In the second overtime, Osorio saved a shot by Hutter 6:45 into the period and Carroll was denied with 47 seconds left after an Oneonta team save as Braeden Morrison cleared away a shot after Carroll eluded the goalie on the left side.
 
Cortland went first in the penalty kick shootout and its first attempt was saved by Osorio. Oneonta, however, missed high on its first attempt. The teams each made their second attempts - Cortland by Nolan Weik (Dryden) and Oneonta by Nico Loaiza, who entered to kick despite not having played during the game.
 
Cortland's third attempt missed left, and Oneonta took the lead on a conversion by Dillon Kelly. Each team finished with two makes - Cortland's by Olego and Dylan Pederson (Earlswood, England/Reigate), and Oneonta's by Rogers and Tommy Kliampas, the latter moving Oneonta to the finals.
 
Cortland finished with a 26-18 lead in shots, while Oneonta earned eight of the game's 13 corner kicks. Osorio made four saves during 71:46 of play (his stop in penalty kicks does not officially count in the stats). Cintron played the first 38:14 in goal for Oneonta before the red card and did not make any saves. Ott played the full 110:00 in goal for Cortland and finished with five saves.