In soccer, the final chance is the opportunity for a team to make a run at the playoffs. Plattsburgh State men’s soccer missed its opportunity Saturday against Brockport, losing 3-2 in overtime.
In the Cardinals’ game against Brockport, the team came out to an early 1-0 lead in the first half courtesy of a goal from sophomore Alexis Archilla, his 13th of the season. The Cards hung on to the lead in the first half, even with senior Nate Economou getting a yellow card early on in the game and having to sit for the rest of the half.
At the start of the second half, PSUC came out controlling the ball. The Cards were able to get another goal from Archilla, giving them a 2-0 lead.
Head coach Chris Waterbury said the second half saw the team having to make moves because of injuries.
“We lost our left back and the problem is a lot of our starters were reserve players because of injury, and now, when you start losing more, we were a little discombobulated,” Waterbury said. “Guys are coming into the game thinking, ‘I don’t want to make a mistake,’ and then we’re dropping our man, and now that guy’s got more time and space, so it’s just a tough domino effect.”
One of the biggest blows for the team was losing a man during the second period. Economou was put back into the game because of the injuries that kept adding up for the team. He went in for a hard slide and was yellow-carded for a second time, causing a red card and him being ejected from the game.
Brockport was able to come back in the second with two goals from Peter DiLorenzo, his 11th and 12th goals of the season. The teams stayed even until the end of the period, leading to overtime.
During the first overtime, neither team was able to score with both teams getting chances but coming up short.
The game went into a second overtime when Brockport took advantage of the weakened PSUC team and DiLorenzo scored his third goal of the game, giving his team the win and ending PSUC’s hopes of repeating as SUNYAC champions.
The Cards still have one game left this season against Utica, which Waterbury said will be an important game for the team.
“It is the last game in the career of our seniors and they deserve our best effort and let’s call it the way it is,” Waterbury said. “All the returning players, I’m not going to remember what they were like in September, I am going to remember what they were like when all the chips were down in October. If they don’t give me an honest effort, that’s my last impression of the season of them, and if that’s the way they want it, then let them be.”
