TORIN O’BRIEN
Special to The Leader
Overall, the weekend was a solid start to SUNYAC play for the Blue Devils as they beat Geneseo 1-0 on Friday followed up by a 2-2 tie against Brockport on Saturday to open SUNYAC play. Fredonia moved to 6-1-1 overall, as they improved their streak to five consecutive games without a loss.
Emotion would be the key word to describe the weekend’s games at University stadium. There’s just something about conference play that seems to get the players’ blood boiling.
Friday’s affair against Geneseo was no exception. The scoreboard doesn’t tell much about what was a chippy and physical game, in which the referees were constantly reminding players from both sides to calm their play down.
Sophomore keeper Sammy Torrelli earned his second shutout of the season on Friday, through some stellar saves and some missed opportunities by the Geneseo offense.
The first and only goal for either side came late in the game.
With about 15 minutes left to play in regulation, Fredonia moved the ball out of their side of the field. Freshman forward Aaron Hayes was then able to chip a pass into a crowded Geneseo box. After a little commotion, Max Prosser was able to get a foot on the rock. The shot, from the left side of the box, was no rocket. But it caught Geneseo’s keeper off guard, and he was able to dribble on through for what would end up being a game-winner.
Torrelli was Friday’s big story. The sophomore out of Akron, N.Y., had six saves and showed his athleticism on several of those to preserve Fredonia’s win.
Saturday’s game against Brockport was more of the same as far as emotional play. And again, Torrelli was a factor in net during the first half. The game was scoreless going into the second.
Fans of both teams didn’t have to wait very long for some action in the second. In the 48th minute, Brockport was able to break the 0-0 tie on a header from Peter DiLorenzo.
The assist came on a cross from the left side of the field and was essentially an impossible shot to stop.
It wasn’t too long after the first goal that play was stopped. During the short break, there was some scuffling between players from both teams which had to be broken up by the refs.
You could say that it energized the Blue Devils, because less than a minute after going down 1-0, Chase Lipshie was able to knot the game at one.
After some good ball movement on Brockport’s side of the field, Hunter Critchlow took a shot on net, which rebounded right to Lipshie. The senior took advantage of the opportunity by buzzing a shot past Brockport goalie Paul Altobelli.
The next goal came for Brockport in the 55th minute of play. After working the ball around, junior Collin Goettel freed himself up from about 25 yards out, and drilled a laser past Torrelli. On a side note, Goettel showed some real poise on the field for Brockport and led with his actions by posting his third goal of the season.
Fredonia fans started to sweat as the seconds ticked away, but in the 84th minute a handball was called, giving the Blue Devils a free kick from 30 yards away. They called on sophomore midfielder Ryan Keller to take a crack at it.
The lefty sent a beautiful shot toward goal from the right side, which bent around Brockport’s wall and found its home buried in the nylon.
The game would end up going into two overtimes without another goal. After officially ending in a draw after both extra periods, SUNYAC rules call for a shootout. This doesn’t count on the win/loss column, but takes effect later in the season when tiebreakers might be needed to decide who makes the postseason or where they lie in the seeding.
Brockport ended up winning the shootout because of two great saves made by Altobelli.
The Blue Devils’ next game will be a non-conference matchup at Cazenovia on Oct. 1st.