Cortland, Fredonia Reach SUNYAC Men's Soccer Final

ONEONTA, N.Y. - The top two seeds in the SUNYAC Men's Soccer Tournament fell to the underdogs Friday, setting up a rematch of the 2001 championship between Cortland and Fredonia at 1:30 p.m. at the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Top-seeded Plattsburgh entered the tournament 9-0 in conference play and nationally ranked but lost to the fourth-seeded Fredonia Blue Devils 2-1. Junior midfielder Tim Cupello (Rochester/Aquinas) gave the Blue Devils the lead with 16:25 gone in the first half. Matt Mahaffey (Lakeview/Frontier) picked up the assist on the goal. The Blue Devils looked to head into halftime with the 1-0 lead but Plattsburgh's Craig Carroll (Cobleskill/Western New England) knotted the score at one with a goal with just 25 seconds left in the opening stanza. In the second half, Mahaffey scored on a header off of Garrett Hauschild's (Skaneateles/Skaneateles) corner kick with 19:20 to go in the game to give the Blue Devils the 2-1 final margin.

Cortland advanced to the championship match with a 2-0 win over second-seeded Geneseo. Junior midfielder Christian Peters (Wesel, Germany/Kourad-Dudeu Gymnasium) gave the Red Dragons the lead at the 40:28 mark in the first half and Bo Grechka (Oswego/Owego Free Academy) added an insurance marker with just 1:14 left in the game to seal the victory.

Cortland will look to win its third consecutive SUNYAC title tomorrow. The Red Dragons defeated Fredonia 3-0 in the championship match in 2001, and beat top-seeded and previously unbeaten Brockport 4-2 in last year's finale. In their only meeting this year, Cortland defeated Fredonia 3-0.