Farmingdale State - 9, Hartwick - 8 F/OT
Oneonta, N.Y. - Farmingdale State senior midfielder Jason Opitz (West Hempstead, N.Y.) scored the game-winning goal 39 seconds into overtime as the Rams earned a 9-8 victory at Hartwick College this afternoon in Oneonta, N.Y.
Trailing 2-0 late in the first period, Opitz cut the deficit in half with an unassisted goal. Sophomore attack Trace Agostino (Bellmore, N.Y.) tied the game at 2-2 of the feed from Opitz with 39 seconds left to play in the first.
The Rams (1-2) took their first lead of the game, 3-2, on Opitz's second goal only 2:13 into the second period. The Hawks (2-1) responded with a man-up goal by junior attack Phil Schaefer (Holbrook, N.Y.) to tie the game at 3-3 with 9:20 left in the half. Hartwick took a 4-3 advantage into the break after a Bobby Cassidy (Oceanside, N.Y.) score late in the second period.
A pair of Hawks goals by senior attack Harry Hughes (Holtsville, N.Y.) and sophomore attack Roy Simmons (Fayetteville, N.Y.) put Hartwick ahead 6-3 in the third. Farmingdale State answered with a man-up score by sophomore midfielder Mike Strebel (Northport, N.Y.) after being setup by Bobby Thomas' (Wantagh, N.Y.) pass. The Rams closed within one, 6-5, on a Thomas goal with 1:20 remaining in the third period.
In the opening minutes of the fourth period, after senior defender Ricky Morales (Holbrook, N.Y.) caused a turnover for Farmingdale State, Thomas scored the unassisted goal to even the score at 6-6. Only 2:44 later, freshman attack Matthew Visintin (Yonkers, N.Y.) tallied a man-up goal to put the Rams ahead 7-6. After a Hartwick goal, Farmingdale State regained the lead on a Steven Suris (Massapequa, N.Y.) score as Thomas registered the assist.
With 45 seconds remaining in regulation, Hawks junior midfielder Zack Gropper (Syosset, N.Y.) forced overtime with the game tying score.
Opitz scored his third goal of the game off Vincent Aniano's (Oceanside, N.Y.) pass 39 seconds into overtime to lead the Rams to their first win of the season.
Thomas had a game-high five points scoring two goals and adding three assists, while sophomore midfielder Donovan Devaney (East Northport, N.Y.) was 16-of-21 on face-offs and had eight ground balls.
Hartwick was led by Schaefer who scored two goals and had two assists and Hughes who added two goals.
Freshman goalkeeper Thomas Fallon (Kings Park, N.Y.) made nive saves for Farmingdale State, while senior goalie Carl Lengel (Lybrook, N.Y.) recorded 12 saves for Hartwick.
The Rams next will travel to Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C. for a non-conference game on Wednesday, March 14th at 4:00 p.m.
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