Oneonta defeats Brockport to move on to semifinals

Leading 1-0 entering the 79^th minute, today's match turned into a blowout for the SUNY Oneonta women's soccer team, as they advanced past Brockport 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2016 SUNYAC tournament.  Three goals over a six-minute span including a pair of penalty kicks gave Oneonta the lopsided victory, as they now move on to face SUNY Geneseo this Wednesday in the semifinals beginning at 1pm at Geneseo.
 
Freshman Christina Kornfeld (Mount Sinai/Miller Place)gave Oneonta (10-5-4) a two-goal lead when she redirected a crossing pass from senior Taylor Messina (Smithtown/Smithtown East) to the back of the goal in the 79^th minute.  Messina made a nice play to take the ball of the end line before making the pass to the front of the goal.  The goal was Kornfeld's third of the season.
 
Thirty-five seconds later Messina had the ball outside the box and made a crossing pass to sophomore Jess Downin (Franklin/Franklin Central) at the top of the box.  As Downin cross into the box, she was fouled from behind and was awarded a penalty kick, which she converted to put the Red Dragons up 3-0.
 
Messina capped the scoring in the 85^th minute when a handball was called inside the box giving another penalty kick to Oneonta.  Messina stepped up and converted the kick for her second goal of the season.
 
Oneonta had two other solid opportunities in the middle part of the second half, but Brockport Keeper Catherine Eliasson came up with the saves to keep its deficit to one goal.
 
Oneonta got on the scoreboard in the 24^th minute of the match when junior Keley Abbriano(Hicksville/Hicksville) notched her first goal of the year.  The goal came after an initial corner kick that was headed by Laura Rolston (New City/Clarkstown South), but was blocked in front.  Abbriano volleyed the loose ball that deflected off the keeper's hand into the goal.
 
"We finally found a way to play together and it really paid off," said Abbriano.  "That was my first time going in the box for a corner and I knew I needed to find a way to put that ball in the back of the net."
 
In the 26^th minute, Oneonta nearly added another goal, but defender Elizabeth Wilson was there to kick the ball out, as she was in place after the keeper had gone out to retrieve a loose ball.  Junior Kayla Belush (Earlville/Sherburne-Earlville) was able to win the ball away from the keeper and sent a high ball towards the goal that Wilson kicked out.
 
Brockport's best scoring opportunity in the match came in the 28^th minute by Kaitlyn Niedermeier.  Niedermeier raced into the box and got a low shot off that was heading to the left corner where Oneonta keeper Emilie Mull (Marcy/Whitesboro) made a diving save to preserve the lead for the Red Dragons.
 
Mull finished the match with a pair of saves while Eliasson made seven stops for Brockport.
 
Oneonta outshot Brockport 22-5 including 15-0 in the second half.
 
"I am proud of how we played today," commented Coach Liz McGrail.  "We came together as a team and we were able to create lots of chances.  It was nice to have four different players get goals today."