On a beautiful Saturday afternoon at University Stadium, the Fredonia men's soccer team found themselves locked in an intense, physical battle with the Golden Eagles of Brockport. When the dust settled, the game ended in a 2-2 overtime tie.
The Blue Devils, off to their best start since 2001 at 6-1-1 and 1-0-1 in SUNYAC, got goals from senior Chase Lipshie (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) and sophomore Ryan Keller (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora). sophomore goalkeeper Sammy Torrelli (Akron, N.Y./Akron) made six saves.
Peter DiLorenzo and Collin Goettel had the Brockport goals and goalkeeper Casey Sullivan was credited with one save. The Golden Eagles ended the day at 5-0-4 overall and are also 1-0-1 in the conference.
The first half saw plenty of plenty of fine play from Torrelli. He made an impressive sprawling stop on a header from DiLorenzo early in the half to keep the game scoreless. Torrelli's play in goal was essential in keeping the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard during the first 45 minutes, with Brockport firing three shots on goal.
On the offensive side, good shots were hard to come by for the Blue Devils in the first half. They managed only one shot on goal, yet had periods of solid, crisp ball movement.
The early portion of the second half was marked by hard, physical contact -- and the game's first goal. DiLorenzo's fifth goal of the season at 42:07 put the Golden Eagles on top, 1-0. Paul Altobelli earned an assist.
Fredonia answered back 52 seconds later. Hunter Critchlow (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport), a freshman, fired the initial shot on goal which was blocked by a Brockport player in front of the net. Lipshie was on the spot for the rebound and crossed a shot toward the opposite post for his second goal of the season and a 2-2 tie.
Brockport struck again to regain the lead at 2-1 when Goettel fired a shot past Torrelli from the top of the box. It was Goettel's third goal of the season.
The Blue Devils put their grit and reslilience on display once again down the stretch. They scored the equalizer with 6:41 remaining when Keller unleashed a lazer off a free kick past Sullivan for his second goal of the season.
The teams played two scoreless 10-minute overtime sessions with neither mounting a serious scoring threat.
Fredonia has a non-conference game Wednesday at Cazenovia before returning to University Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4 to meet SUNY Buffalo State in SUNYAC play.
