ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Fredonia punched its ticket into the SUNYAC men's soccer tournament with a 2-1 upset win Saturday over Oneonta.
In the process, the Blue Devils landed a first-round home game as the No. 3 seed in the six-team bracket. They will meet No. 6 seed Plattsburgh next Saturday at University Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, the Blue Devils broke through with goals by
Ryan Ross (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) and
Bryan Sibble (Liverpool, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) in a span of six minutes early in the second half.
Ross was set up early in the 55th minute by
Parker Healy (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora), who carried the ball into the box and slid a pass to his left. It was his second goal of the season. Sibble's goal -- his fifth -- came midway through the 61st minute on a direct kick from outside the box.
Dillon Johnson scored for Oneonta in the 71st minute to cut the margin to 2-1, Fredonia hung on the rest of the way in front of freshman goalkeeper
Ty Bentham (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North), who made eight saves to secure the win. The Blue Devils were outshot 23-9 overall.
The Blue Devils improved to 5-4 in the conference and 11-6-1 overall while Oneonta -- the No. 2 seed -- ended the regular season at 6-2-1 in the conference and 13-4-1 overall.
New Paltz will visit Buffalo State in the other first-round game next Saturday. Oneonta and No. 1 seed Cortland earned first-round byes.
