MARCY, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Wildcats (1-1-0) fell to crosstown rival Utica (2-0-0) by a score of 2-0 Saturday night in front of a packed crowd at Wildcat Stadium. The Wildcats battled to keep the match close, but were ultimately blanketed by a Pioneer defense that allowed just two SUNYIT shots on goal.
Fleet-footed forward Jonathan Peterson got things rolling for the Pioneers in the first half. In the game's eighth minute, Peterson beat a SUNYIT defender down the right side. Peterson appeared cornered, but somehow slipped the ball past his SUNYIT counterpart. As the ball rolled toward the goal, keeper Malick Faye (Bronx, N.Y. / MLK) came out and made an attempt to dive on the ball. Just before the 6-3 goalie could get his hands on the ball, however, Peterson punched it away and delivered a perfect pass to Jeff Konieczny for the empty-netter.
"It was a bang-bang play," said Wildcat Coach Peterson Jerome, "it's tough when you give an early goal in a game of such magnitude."
SUNYIT definitely suffered from the early blow to their momentum, as the team struggled to get and keep the ball in Utica territory.
"We give them credit, they came out and played hard and the physicality with which they played today really put us on our heels" said Jerome.
Epitomizing that physicality was midfielder DJ Ilebani. The 6-foot, 190-pound senior was a menace for the Pioneers.
"Number four was just running through everybody, winning everything," said Jerome referring to Ilebani, "you look at the field and it's easy to see who the best athlete was."
"We're just glad that we don't have to play him again," added Jerome laughing.
Any hope of a comeback for SUNYIT was dashed when Kevin McAllister found the net in the 53rd minute of the match. McAllister was the beneficiary of an exceptional long pass over-the-top by teammate Alex Sheridan.
Said Jerome, "That's the way they play; they weren't looking to play the midfield, they were looking to boom it over the top and hope to catch it because they do have two lethal forwards – probably the best tandem we'll play against all year."
"The problem," Jerome continued, "is that they forced us to play that way too…they knew we were going to look to find our midfielders, and they challenged our midfield pretty well. Our guys have to open themselves up to the ball more; I think they were more worried about where their defenders were instead of just getting the ball, giving it back, and keeping our flow going on offense."
Despite the tough game, Jerome noted that his team "played hard" even if they didn't play particularly well, and also highlighted sophomore Matt Arcidiacono (Oneonta, N.Y. / Oneonta HS) who, according to Jerome, "played his best game for us thus far."
SUNYIT will get to rest up for the week before traveling to MCLA for a tournament on Saturday, September 8th. Match time is scheduled for 2 pm.
