Brockport men's soccer title dreams "hawked"

The Brockport men’s soccer season came to an end Saturday Oct. 27, with a 1-0 loss to the New Paltz Hawks in the SUNYAC playoffs. The game was a rematch of a Sep. 29 game that Brockport won 5-2.

The Hawks were looking for a big upset, since they were the sixth seed and the Eagles were the third seed.

“I don’t think we went into it like we were going to destroy them,” junior defender Bobby Ross said. “Maybe a little confident because of the first game, but we still knew it was going to be a tough game because it’s playoffs.”

New Paltz looked like the stronger team in the first half with nine shots to Brockport’s four. Freshman goalie Casey Sullivan kept the Hawks off the board in the first half with one save.

At halftime, the score was tied 0-0 and the Hawks realized they weren’t the underdog anymore. With light rain still coming down, the conditions continued to get worse and finally caught up to Brockport early in the second half.

As a ball was played into the box by a New Paltz midfielder, Ross lost his footing and New Paltz capitalized with a goal by forward Mateo Cordini.

“It’s a tough goal to allow,” Ross said. “Especially because of the slippery weather.”

New Paltz kept up the pressure as it continued to get shots on Sullivan, but he was able to make some big saves to keep the deficit at one. He finished the game with five saves.

The Eagles fought back as they started to get more shots on goal but New Paltz goalie Steven Domino didn’t let anything by him. One of the better chances came late in the second half as Brockport was awarded a free kick a little bit outside the box.

Junior Shane Hachey took the free kick and deflected the ball right off the wall, but right into the arms of Domino. Brockport wasn’t able to get off any more shots as Domino finished the game with nine saves and New Paltz completed the upset with a 1-0 win.

It was a tough way for Brockport to end the season, as most people believed the team had a chance to make it back to the SUNYAC final where it lost last year to Oneonta.

“I think we will come back strong next year,” Ross said. “We were so young this year and we’ll all be back next year, ready to bring the SUNYAC title back to the Port.”

With the loss, Brockport finished out the season with an overall record of 8-8-1 and 6-2-1 in the SUNYAC. Sophomore defenseman who led Brockport in scoring on the season with seven goals and two assists, for a total of 16 points.

Forward Marc Orlando is the Eagles’ only senior this year, so they are expected to do big things next year with most of their players returning and more experience under their belt.


mcahn1@brockport.edu