By Collin Bolebruch
With its back against the wall, Plattsburgh State men’s soccer delivered its signature win of the season. The Cardinals (7-1-3, 2-1-1) defeated the No. 20 Oneonta Red Dragons (7-2-3, 3-1) 2-0 at home Oct. 9 for the first time since 2015.
Plattsburgh was 0-1-1 in its most recent SUNYAC games — tying Morrisville (3-4-4) 0-0 on Sept. 28 and losing to No. 14 Cortland (8-3-3, 2-1-1) 0-4 on Oct. 5. Oneonta was undefeated in conference play, most notably defeating Cortland 4-0 on Oct. 2.
“That’s why we love the league,” head coach Chris Taylor said. “This is an NCAA game.”
In each of this week’s Cortland and Oneonta games, Plattsburgh shot 12 times and five times on goal — but produced different results.
CORTLAND
The Cardinals entered its SUNYAC road opener against the Red Dragons undefeated after a hiccup tie against Morrisville. The game looked like a chance for the Cards to assert itself in the standings.
The matchup was the first with a long week of practice in almost a month, with no Wednesday game. After a frustrating game, it was difficult to stretch enthusiasm over seven days.
“There was definitely an energy lull,” forward Tristan Laundree said. “It was nothing to what we had in preseason, which I wish we could get back to.”
Taylor addressed it before the game.
“We were excited to have no mid-week games the last two weeks, but I don’t think it helped us,” Taylor said. “I think it created too much of a relaxed attitude.”
Plattsburgh faced major setbacks in terms of personnel, with two starters unavailable — center back Randall Ashong was ruled out with a hamstring injury and midfielder Jake McGowan was suspended for a red card the game prior.
In Ashong’s place was Tony Kochelev, a junior starting his first game. Thomas O’Neill, a transfer, filled in for McGowan for his third start of the year.
“We tried to be as on-brand as possible, but I think we found it difficult to be that,” Taylor said. “The guys who stepped in actually did a really good job and I don’t think they could have done any more.”
Cortland’s lineup consists of mostly upperclassmen. Plattsburgh’s team is much younger, and as the game went on, Taylor was forced to pull deeper from the bench. The Cardinals played 12 reserves, equaling the Morrisville and Fredonia games combined.
Eight of the substitutes were underclassmen who gained valuable experience in limited minutes.
“The SUNYAC is a pretty physical conference,” O’Neill said. “That’s definitely an adjustment for the younger guys.”
Taylor said the game was a good lesson for players with little or no conference experience, providing an experience that could last the season or even their careers.
“I think some of them saw that it’s a lot bigger, a lot stronger and a lot faster,” Taylor said.
The rotation was also a good example to remind the down-the-bench guys of their worth, and that they could be called on at any time.
Cortland scored twice in the first half, picking apart the Plattsburgh defense and capitalizing on mistakes.
Some starters have accumulated multiple yellow cards, and are approaching the five-card threshold before suspension. The threat didn’t allow the backline to defend in a way it wanted to.
O’Neill attributed the second-half goals to the Cardinals moving away from their game, trying to win.
“We don’t want to learn in SUNYAC games, but we did,” Taylor said. “We saw some really good moments throughout the game that we want to try and harness and get more out of.”
ONEONTA
Through its last 11 matchups, Plattsburgh was 0-9-2 against Oneonta. The Red Dragons have been a wall the Cards have been unable to scale, and posed a serious trial Wednesday.
“I think they’re the best team we’ve played by far,” Taylor said.
The Cardinals returned Ashong and McGowan, but some changes remained — Kochelev replaced Lucas Arbaelez and McGowan came off the bench. Forward Modou Badjie came off the bench for just the second time across two seasons.
Plattsburgh pulled five from the bench, and McGowan outplayed O’Neill in minutes.
The rivals remained in lockstep through the first half, shooting seven times each, with the Cardinals holding a two to one shots on goal advantage. Plattsburgh was unable to convert on some ideal looks.
“We should have scored three, four maybe,” Taylor said.
With a shorter practice window between games, the Cardinals had a goal in the early week.
“It keeps the focus,” Taylor said. “You can’t keep the guys locked in for five games. This gives us a short-term goal. I prefer it this way.”
The 0-0 tie persisted through 76 minutes, with possession and shots remaining relatively square.
During the Cortland game, Plattsburgh struggled to score partly because of a lack of numbers in the box, and a failure to connect across the field.
Center back Brian Coughlan, with 15 minutes remaining against Oneonta, learned from that deficiency. From outside the right corner of the penalty area, he fired a crosser to Badjie in the box. Badjie pulled back and the ball went through the defender’s legs into the bottom left corner of the goal.
“It was a bit of a clever one,” Taylor said.
The bench exploded, running to celebrate with Coughlan. They remained on their feet for the rest of the game.
Less than two minutes later, Badjie took a lob pass entering the penalty area. He handled it, dribbling to the outside left corner of the goal box past the defender. A low shot went past the goalkeeper in the bottom right corner.
Badjie, benched following some lackluster starts, needed the score “badly,” Taylor said.
The dagger extended the lead and Plattsburgh held Oneonta without a shot on goal for the rest of the game.
Plattsburgh now stands fourth in the conference with five games to go, including just two teams with positive records. Those tests — visiting Buffalo State (10-0-1, 3-0-0) tomorrow and hosting New Paltz (7-4-1, 3-0-1) on Wednesday — creates a two-week gauntlet pushing the limits of the team.
“The guys have it in them. We’ve been talking for several years now about winning the big games,” Taylor said. “Hopefully that’s a breakthrough. I’ve known it the whole time, but I think the guys needed to prove it to themselves.”
