The SUNY Plattsburgh men’s soccer team split its first two SUNYAC games of the season against Fredonia and Buffalo State last weekend at the Field House, bringing its season record to 3-6.
The Cardinals headed into last weekend after a 1-0 loss against Clarkson University, a loss that head coach Chris Taylor called the team’s most disappointing of the season. He said it was important for Plattsburgh State to come out unified against its first conference opponents and thought it did a good job of it.
“The guys put themselves out there this weekend in both games in different ways,” Taylor said. “Definitely saw more things that we believe can be a basis for our game.
After a scoreless first half against Fredonia, senior forward Chris Robertson put the Cards on the board with his second goal of the season. The game was put to rest after Plattsburgh State netted its second goal in the 78th minute, beating the Blue Devils 2-0 for its first conference win of the season.
Taylor said the team was overly cautious in its outing.
“[The game] was ugly,” he said. “The first half we were definitely timid and you could tell we just didn’t want to lose.”
Taylor said the team regrouped at halftime and made the effort to finish the game with a win.
“They decided they weren’t losing that game,” Taylor said. “They made big plays and led the charge a little bit. It wasn’t the prettiest game. I thought we played good football for for about 10 to 12 minutes, and we scored in that period, and showed we’re a good team in that period.”
Taylor questioned if the team could come together last week. After Fredonia, his doubts were put to rest.
“We showed some real togetherness,” Taylor said.
There were multiple standout performances that helped pull off the win, Taylor said.
“We couldn’t take [Jimmy Marchena or Matt Iuorno] off the field in the second half. They were dominant in many ways physically, mentally, emotionally,” Taylor said. “[Robertson] got a goal and could’ve easily got two more. He showed that he literally can be a class above the rest of the league when he wants to be.”
The following day against Buffalo State shared a similar first half as neither team managed to score a goal, but that changed in the final half after Buffalo State’s junior midfielder Nemanja Simic scored in the 56th minute to put the Bengals up top.
The Cards responded with a goal of their own to tie the game in the 70th minute by freshman forward Cole Weiner. Four minutes later, Bengals forward Anthony Roncone put Buffalo State back in the lead. Plattsburgh State was unable to respond, losing their first conference game this season 2-1.
The Cards resume their conference schedule at Geneseo today at 4 p.m. The team then plays The College at Brockport tomorrow at 1 p.m. away.
