From University of Rochester Athletics
The University of Rochester won the Flower City Men's Soccer Classic by one point after battling Morrisville State College to a 0-0 double overtime tie at Edwin Fauver Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Yellowjackets finished with four points. They defeated Rutgers-Newark on Saturday, 2-1, in overtime to earn three points. They picked up a point with the scoreless draw.
SUNY Cortland and Rutgers Newark finished tied for second place with three points. Cortland opened with a 5-1 win over Morrisville on Saturday. On Sunday, Rutgers-Newark scored a minute into its match vs. Cortland and went on to a 3-1 win. Morrisville finished fourth.
Rochester's Michael Cross was named the Most Valuable Player. He scored the gamewinning goal in OT vs. Rutgers-Newark Saturday and was one of Rochester's most effective attackers against Morrisville.
The Best Offensive Player Award was presented to Nick Tata of SUNY Cortland. He was held without a point vs. Rutgers-Newark, but produced two goals and one assist in the 5-1 win over Morrisville Saturday.
Isaiah Kuris of Rutgers-Newark was named the Best Defensive Player. He was effective in both games played by the Scarlet Raiders.
With Rutgers-Newark posting the 3-1 win over Cortland, that opened the door for Rochester to claim the Flower City title with either a win or a tie. Morrisville had the better of the chances in the first half. Rochester goalkeeper Redd Brown made seven saves for the game. In the fourth minute, he had to make a punch save after a close-in shot from Julian Rodriguez. The minutes later, the Mustangs ran a nice combination down left wing, with Jeffrey Hado feeding Rodriguez whose shot was saved again.
Morrisville's Joe Sheehan kept the game scoreless at halftime when he cleared a header by Cross off the line with 12 minutes left in the half.
In the second half, Rochester asserted itself over the first 10 minutes with a handful of chances that were wide or high. In the 59th minute, Rochester's Tanner Chester had to tackle the ball away from Jamieson McKoy deep in the box and the ball rolled to Brown.
Six minutes later, Brown made the save of the game. Sheehan moved down the left wing and was in position for a strong header from seven yards out that Brown punched wide so his defense could clear. Sheehan tried to set up Justin Loverme three minutes later, but Brown was in position to save it.
Rochester had several good chances in the last 20 minutes of regulation. A lead pass sent Milan Fatschel down the right side. He crossed it where it was just beyond the reach of Allesandro Incerto. Ben Swanger fired past the right post. Andrew Greenway and Cross both missed opportunities two minutes apart. From the top of the area, Greenway fired just past the right post with nine minutes left. Two minutes later in a scramble in a packed goalmouth, Cross tried a bicycle kick that was wide right.
Morrisville earned its second team save with less than two minutes to play. The ball swung over from the right and Incerto pushed it farther left with that side of the net open. Jeff Fafinski's shot was saved off the goalline by Danny Peckham.
The second OT was a fitting end to the match with each team missing what appeared to be a near sure-thing. In the 114th minute, Fafinski chipped a ball to Incerto after a corner kick. As Morrisville keeper Rob Larkin tried to get back in position, Incerto the ball struck the top of Incerto's head, instead of the forehead, and popped over the bar.
Morrisville applied late pressure in the last two minutes that kept UR defenders busy. In the final 15 seconds, McKoy ran to the back post to meet a cross. With the right side of the net yawning open, he mis-hit it wide and the final 10 seconds expiried.
With the result, Rochester is 1-1-1. Morrisville is 0-2-1.