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FREDONIA, N.Y. – Fredonia State and Oneonta will meet Friday in a SUNYAC Tournament semifinal at Roberts Wesleyan College at 1:30 p.m.
The No. 3 seeded Blue Devils take a 12-3-3 record into the game, including a 6-2-1 record in the SUNYAC. One of those conference games was a 1-0 Fredonia State win over Oneonta on Oct. 19.
In that game, junior forward
Kristi Putzig (Williamsville) was on the receiving end of a pass into the box from junior midfielder
Katie Kleine (Cazenovia). Following a scramble with a Oneonta defender, Putzig controlled the ball and while falling to the ground angled a shot into the upper right corner of the net. It turned out to be the only shot-on-goal the Blue Devils managed the entire game. They were outshot 25-8 and out-cornered 9-1.
Meanwhile, senior goalkeeper
Meaghan Meszaros (Selden) made five saves while recording her seventh shutout of the season.
“Playing and beating a team a second time is never easy,” Fredonia State head coach
Chris Case said. “Oneonta is a very good team. They have good individual players that also play well together within their team concept.”
At the time, the loss dropped the Red Dragons (11-6-1 overall, 7-2-0 SUNYAC) out of first place in the conference. They finished the regular season as the No. 2 seed, yet still earned a SUNYAC Tournament first-round bye. The Blue Devils advanced to Fridays' game by ousting New Paltz in a first-round game last Saturday at University Stadium.
While the final score was officially a 2-2 tie, the Blue Devils outlasted the Hawks, 3-2, in seven rounds of penalty kicks. Freshman midfielder
Ally Tatro (Fairport), junior midfielder
Catie Hale (Lockport), and junior defender
Shannon Letina (Clarence) were successful on their PKs – with Letina's ending the shootout – while Meszaros made three diving stops during the PK session and three saves in the double-overtime game.
The Blue Devils will be attempting to advance to the SUNYAC title game for the first time. They have played in three other semifinals, including a 1-0 loss last year to New Paltz, and have a 2-4-2 record in five previous SUNYAC Tournament appearances (2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2011).
Oneonta is making is 17th SUNYAC Tournament appearance. The Red Dragons have won the championship 13 times, most recently in 2010.
“We will have our hands full,” Case said, “and will have to play very well to advance to our program's first-ever conference final.”
The winner advances to the conference championship game 1 p.m. Saturday against either No. 1 Brockport or No. 4 Cortland, also at Roberts Wesleyan. The SUNYAC champion qualifies automatically for the NCAA Division III Tournament.
