SUNY Cortland Sport Clubs

October 24, 2009
Cortland, NY

Semi-Final: Cortland v. Ithaca

This weekend marked the finale to the Cortland Men’s club soccer team’s season. On Saturday, October 24th, the CCSL tournament took place on the campus of SUNY Cortland. In this tournament, there were four teams participating which included: Ithaca, Cornell, ESF and Cortland.  The two semi-final matches were between ESF and Cornell and Cortland faced off against Ithaca to see who would battle it out in the championship for the CCSL tournament crown.

The Cortland v. Ithaca match was a rematch in which Ithaca won the first contest 4-2. Cortland was truly set on revenge in this match and Ithaca clearly was out to put forth a similar result to move on in the tournament.  It looked like Ithaca hadn’t missed a beat from their last meeting as they jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead over Cortland. The goal was scored on the 3rd minute of the game and was a product of miscommunication in the back for Cortland’s defense and opportunistic finishing on Ithaca’s behalf.

Although it looked like deja vu all over again for Cortland’s team, it did not disrupt them from making a comeback. They scored later in the first half when Brendan Wells finished a well timed cross with a header to make the score tied at 1-1. The first half was hard fought in the midfield and exhibited timely and fundamentally sound defense by both sides. The score remained tied after the first half of action and would pick up the pace in the second half.

It was Cortland who took the lead in the second half when Casey Quinn contributed to the scoring column when he headed a cross into the back of the net to give Cortland a 2-1 lead. This goal was another good example of well timed far post runs and good crossing that made the difference in the match. Throughout the second half, the play was rough and tough as Ithaca tried to keep the pressure up as they searched for a tying goal.  Ithaca’s effort fell short in the end as they could not finish on their attempts and Cortland moved on with a 2-1 semi-final victory.

Cortland’s game ended early as they awaited the final score of the other semi-final match. After about 10 minutes of waiting an end result was given, and it was ESF who came out on top with a 1-0 overtime victory over Cornell. So the final match was set up and in 70 minutes of play a champion would be dedided.

Box Score: Cortland 2 Ithaca 1
Cortland: Brendan Wells 1-0, Casey Quinn 1-0

Final: Cortland v. ESF

Shortly after both semi-final matches were completed the championship game was under way.  The match was between ESF and Cortland which also was a rematch from earlier in the season in which the two teams tied 1-1. Unlike the semi-final match, Cortland would not find itself behind early.  They quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Casey Quinn finished a low cross by Brendan Wells into the goal at 3 minutes.  It was Quinn’s second consecutive goal of the tournament and was also a huge confidence boost for the Red Dragon club.

Fifteen minutes after the first goal, Cortland struck again. This time Tom Baker took on a few defenders from the ESF backline and calmly passed the ball to Pete Ostrander who put the ball into the net for the 2-0 lead. Cortland seemed on top of its game after this goal and started to control most of the play throughout the entire first half.

The second half saw ESF trying to attack as much as they could.  Lots of pressure was put on the Cortland defense but ESF simply couldn’t net any chances they had.  Cortland had a decent 2-0 lead, but was in search of some insurance when Tom Baker did jus that as he tallied the 3rd goal for Cortland. Baker, who was a distributor throughout most of the tournament finally got his chance at the 55th minute of play and made it 3-0.  Although Cortland tried to play more defensive after this goal, another chance came at the 65th minute. Mike Mendez was lead on by a good through ball that put him one on one with the ESF keeper. He curled a ball past the keeper knocking the ball off the left post and into the goal for the 4th and final goal of the game.

In the end, Cortland won the CCSL championship game 4-0 and had earned itself the championship cup. This marked the end of a season in which Cortland started out a little bit slow but finished very strong as they won both regular season and tournament playoff championships. A job well done to the Cortland Men’s Club Soccer Team.

Box Score: Cortland 4 ESF 0
Cortland: Casey Quinn: 1-0, Pete Ostrander 1-0, Tom Baker 1-2, Mike Mendez 1-0, Mike Porter 0-1, Rich Piscano

Report submitted by: Mike Porter

October 6, 2009
Cortland, NY

On Tuesday evening, October 6th, the Cortland State red dragons soccer team had a league match under the lights against Cornell’s club team. This was a match up of two top teams in the league standings and the winner of this match very well could be the winner of the league. With a record of 1-1-1, SUNY Cortland sat right behind Cornell in the standings prior to this match. The first half of play was a back and forth affair, Cornell appeared to be keeping good possession of the ball while Cortland had created a few chances of their own. Around the 20th minute of play, Cortland was awarded a corner kick down the left side of the field. Tom Baker lined up the kick and swung the ball into the far post position of the goal. The ball was just out of the Cornell goal keepers reach and was sent into the back of the net by Peter Ostrander on a sliding volley. The score now was in favor of Cortland 1-0 and seemed to ignite their play as well. With momentum on their side Cortland began to take control for the remainder of the half but didn’t finish on the numerous chances the had created. With the half winding down, Cornell finished on one of their opportunities inside the box and tied the game at 1-1.

A disappointing end to a well played first half didn’t stop the Cortland players from coming back and playing a solid 2nd half. At the 55th minute, Ostrander struck again when he finished a quick throw-in pass from Brendan Wells. This pass lead Ostrander to a break away with the Cornell keeper and he calmly put the ball into the back of the net to break the tie at 2-1. Later, in the 65th minute, Tom Baker got into the action for Cortland when he scored on a 18 yard shot that deflected into the goal and gave Cortland a 3-1 lead.  The second half was controlled by SUNY Cortland but Cornell gave a comeback effort near the end of the match. With 10 minutes remaining, Cornell again took advantage of their opportunity and drilled a shot into the back of the net slimming the lead to 3-2. The last 10 minutes of the game was spent on Cortland’s half of the field as Cornell forced pressure on its defense. The threatening attacks of Cornell weren’t enough as they came up short and the game ended at 3-2 giving Cortland its second win in the league. With the victory Cortland moves to 2-1-1 and with the win against Cornell boosts them into what looks to be a number one seed in the league tournament.
Box Score:
Cortland: Peter Ostrander: 2-0, Tom Baker: 1-1, Brendan Wells 0-1

written and contributed by Mike Porter

 On Saturday, September 26th, the SUNY Cortland Men’s Club Soccer team took on SUNY Oswego’s club team.  Cortland, who in its first two matches earned a tie and suffered a loss was trying to get back on track and earn its first win of the season.  The game started just after noon and was pretty even throughout the first half hour of play. Both SUNY Oswego and Cortland created a host of chances, but good defense and goal keeping kept the score even at zero. Then, during the 35th minute, Cortland went ahead on Kyle Longo’s open net score.  In somewhat of a broken play that forced the goal keeper to come out of position, Oswego left an opportunity for the ball to cross the goal line and Longo was in the right spot to finish putting Cortland ahead 1-0.

  At halftime the score read 1-0 to Cortland and that was a sign of more good things to come in the game. In the second half, the ball was primarily kept on Oswego’s side of the field and Cortland continued to lead the attack.  During the 65th minute, Brendan Wells held up the ball near the 18 yard box and laid a ball back to Alex Serbetzian who fired from 25 yards out into the left corner of the net. This great collection of passes lead to what was the top goal of the match. The chances kept on coming for Cortland and they finished on what was one of their last chances of the contest. Francis Egleton finished up the scoring when he buried a cross into the back of the goal with 5 minutes remaining in the game.

   The final score ended at 3-0 and was Cortland’s first victory of the season improving their record to 1-1-1 on the season. The defense played a solid game and earned their first shutout of the season. Now with a victory under their belts, Cortland looks to improve upon their record in the upcoming weeks that follow.

Box Score: Cortland

Kyle Longo 1-0, Alex Serbetzian 1-0, Francis Egleton 1-0, Mike Porter 0-1, Stephen DellaRatta 0-1

Written by Mike Porter

September 12, 2009
Cortland, NY

The SUNY Cortland men’s soccer club opened their 2009 Collegiate Club Soccer League (CCSL) schedule this past Saturday against the defending league champions from ESF. Cortland jumped out to a 1-0 lead with just under a minute remaining in the first half. The Red Dragons held that lead until ESF was able to chip a shot over the Cortland keeper, tying the score at one goal apiece. The two clubs finished a chippy contest in a stalemate, each earning one point in the league standings.

Cortland returns to action on Saturday, 9/19 with a league contest at Ithaca College. Check back next week for updated results and game information.

The Men’s Soccer club will be holding an organizational meeting on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:00pm by Poolside in Park Center. Please bring something to write with, as well as your health insurance cards or other proof of medical insurance with policy numbers, group numbers, etc. Proof of medical insurance is mandatory prior to participation with any sport club.

If you are interested, but cannot attend the meeting, please contact Liam O’Connell at leoconnell@charter.net.  

Sport club meeting dates will be posted once they are confirmed. For more information about all of the sport clubs, including organizational meetings for other clubs, please go to the SUNY Cortland Sport Club website: blog.cortland.edu/sportclubs