BUFFALO, NY – The nationally 22nd-ranked Cortland men's soccer team tallied three goals in the second half to erase a halftime deficit and earn a 3-1 road victory at Buffalo State in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener for both sides on Wednesday evening. Cortland improves to 6-1-1 (1-0-0 SUNYAC), while Buffalo State is now 5-3-1 (0-1-0 SUNYAC).
Owen Brant (Loudonville/Shaker) and
Diego Rivera (East Meadow/Cairo-Durham) each finished with a goal and an assist to lead the Red Dragons.
Jordan Ott (Fort Worth, TX/Southwest Christian) recorded four saves in goal for Cortland.
Jay Kitcher netted the lone goal for the Bengals, and Adrian Contreras recorded six saves for Buffalo State.
The Red Dragons had an early opportunity less than five minutes into the first half, but
Christian Napolitano's (Massapequa) header went just over the crossbar after a whipped in free kick from
Jack Pachla (Grand Island).
Buffalo State struck first in the 21st minute on its first shot attempt of the game when Kitcher swung a free kick from outside the 18-yard area that bounced and nestled into the right side of the net.
The Bengals maintained the lead into halftime, despite Cortland holding a 6-4 edge in shot attempts and a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Cortland equalized in the 62nd minute through Rivera's goal against his former team, where he was a two-time All-American and two-time SUNYAC Player of the Year prior to transferring to Cortland. Brant took a long throw-in down the right sideline towards the middle of the box that fell to Rivera, who flicked a shot into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
The Red Dragons scored to go ahead in the 70th minute. Pachla curled a corner kick to the middle of the box that was headed towards goal by
Dylan Pederson (Surrey, England/Reigate) and that knocked into the back of the goal by a Buffalo State defender for an own goal.
Cortland capped the scoring on a counterattack in the 89th minute. A cross from the Bengals was headed out into open space near midfield for Rivera to create a 2-on-1 break for the Red Dragons. Rivera weighted a pass to Brant, who dribbled around the Buffalo State goalkeeper and deposited a shot into the back of the net for the 3-1 final score.
