UTICA, NY - The Utica men's soccer team waged a 90-minute war with #13 ranked SUNY Cortland on Wednesday evening at Casamento Field, causing some fireworks at the end of regulation but ultimately falling 2-1 despite a valiant last-second effort. 
 
The Pioneers started fast in the matchup, rifling off two shots within the first 3 minutes courtesy of Anderson Velazquez (Norwood, NY/Marble Hill) and Noah Nassberg (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast). Both shots were saved by Cortland goalkeeper Jordan Ott. However, both shots were extremely threatening and were early examples of the intense pressure that the Pioneer attackers were looking to inflict on the ranked Red Dragons throughout the night. 
 
After the initial attempts by Utica, Cortland began to settle in, using a blend of physicality and passing to launch a long stretch of offensive possession. The Pioneers were unfazed though, and began a string of stops and saves that kept the Red Dragons relatively quiet. 
 
Cortland managed to sneak one by the Pioneer defense in the 26th minute, but besides that one misstep, Utica played solid defense against a strong Red Dragon squad for the majority of the 1st half. 
 
Late in the 1st frame, Cody Baker-Green (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) attempted to ignite a Utica scoring opportunity. The senior midfielder flew all over the pitch, enduring lots of physicality in the Pioneers' defensive third while creating chances at the other end of the field. His end-to-end play kept Utica in the match, and as halftime arrived, the Pioneers only trailed by a score of 1-0.
 
Early in the 2nd half, Cortland found a long through ball that landed at the feet of Matt Schultz, who landed a volley past experienced Utica netminder Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret). 
 
The run of play was very even after the Schultz score gave Cortland a 2-0 lead, with both teams creating chances through precise passing and set-piece opportunities. 
 
As the clock wound down, Utica found itself knocking on the door of a breakthrough score. With about 5 minutes remaining in the contest, the Pioneers began sending the ball into the Red Dragon box repetitively, attempting all manner of offensive tactics to get on the board and breath some life into the Casamento crowd. 
 
It was a stray ball, sent back into the box after a Cortland clearance, that provided the Pioneers with a golden opportunity. Evan Smith (Baldwinsville, NY/Barker) flicked a cross into space with the inside of his boot, passing the ball by an advancing Red Dragon line and catching them off-guard to find a freshly-entered Jalen Lucero (Albuquerque, NM/Higley) for a Utica score.
 
Lucero received the Smith pass, and defeated the Cortland goalkeeper Ott in a 1-on-1 clash to find the back of the net and bring the Pioneers to within 1 goal. 
 
With the Red Dragons leading 2-1, Utica attempted everything in it's offensive arsenal to try and produce an equalizer. Despite applying pressure for the entirety of the final 5 minutes, the Pioneers couldn't connect for a clutch goal, and fell in an extremely inspiring effort by a score of 2-1.
 
Utica will fall to 0-1-1, and will now look to this weekend, where they'll have a shot for some SUNYAC revenge against the recently-added SUNY Morrisville Mustangs on Saturday. That matchup will kick-off at 3:00 PM, back at Casamento Field. 
 
Final goal-scoring tally:
26' - Yasin Choukri | Cortland 1, Utica 0
67' - Matt Schultz (Cade Denlinger) | Cortland 2, Utica 0
84' - Jalen Lucero (Albuquerque, NM/Higley) (Evan Smith (Baldwinsville, NY/Barker)) | Cortland 2, Utica 1