MARCY, N.Y. - The SUNYIT Men's Soccer Team (15-1-1, 7-1 NEAC) capped off a record-setting regular season Wednesday night by earning their program-best 15th win of the year. The Wildcats held off the Soaring Eagles of Elmira College by a score of 1-0.
Neither team got much going in the first half, as the Soaring Eagles managed just 3 shots to SUNYIT's 2. The Wildcats had a nice chance a little over 13 minutes into the match when Kurreem Williams (Mt. Vernon, N.Y. / TCI) sent a beautiful cross to Nicholas McBride (Schenectady, N.Y. / Mohonassen) on the right side of the goal, but McBride's ensuing shot just missed to the outside. McBride, however, played his usual solid game on offense for the Wildcats, delivering a number of good crosses to give SUNYIT some chances in the second half.
The game turned on a play in the second half. Wildcat midfielder Francesco Tine (Chatham, N.Y. / Chatham), was fouled inside the penalty box. Diego Montaleza (New York, N.Y. / MLK) took the resulting penalty kick, poking a grounder to the low-right corner of the net and giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead in the 76th minute.
The score gave Montaleza his league-leading 12th goal of the year, which is also a SUNYIT single-season record.
The Wildcats will now await the start of the NEAC Championship Tournament, which SUNYIT will host as the league's #1 seed. In the tournament's first game on Saturday, November 9th, the Wildcats will take on #4 seed Cazenovia at 11:30 am.