Fredonia State won its SUNYAC men's soccer opener Friday, 2-1, over Geneseo at University Stadium as Tyler Williams converted a penalty kick in the 85th minute.
Playing one man down for nearly the entire second half, the Blue Devils (2-7 overall, 1-0 SUNYAC) broke the 1-1 tie after Matt Schroen was taken down in the box and Williams, sent out to take the penalty kick, was true from 12 yards away.
"It certainly made it harder for us," Fredonia State coach P.J. Gondek said of playing a man down. "It made our guys work that much harder."
The Blue Devils erased a 1-0 deficit goal by Ryan Smith immediately after Neil Allen scored for Geneseo.
The goal by Allen came on a penalty kick at 45:36 after Fredonia State's Dino Salkic was red-carded for a handball in the box during a wild Geneseo flurry of shots. The red card also resulted in the Blue Devils playing with 10 men for the rest of the game.
The Blue Devils tied the game 1 minute and 2 seconds later. Williams set up Smith with a long through pass to the left wing. Smith tapped the ball across the box into the far right corner.
"The fact that we were able to score right after them was huge," Gondek added. "It really gave our guys confidence."
Fredonia State goalkeeper Mike Schreiner finished with three saves. Geneseo's Dan Maddock had four saves. The loss dropped the Blue Knights to 0-1 in the conference, 1-4-1 overall.
Each team had decent chances off corner kicks in the first half. Fredonia State's Jake Persons headed a ball wide of the open right corner first, then Geneseo's Craig Schackner did likewise at the other end in the 21st minute.
The Blue Devils had the next two good chances. Williams shot over the top of the net on a free kick from 20 yards out. In the 35th minute, Patrick Schuber was thwarted from close range by Maddock, who blocked the shot and controlled the rebound.
The Blue Devils are back at home Saturday afternoon when they face The College at Brockport. Game time is 1 p.m.
"Brockport beat Buffalo State today, 1-0," Gondek concluded. "We'd really like to finish the weekend with two wins."
Women's Soccer
Blue Devils keep rolling with OT?win
GENESEO - Catie Hale scored off her own corner kick early in the second overtime to lift No. 22 Fredonia State over Geneseo, 3-2, in SUNYAC women's soccer.
The Blue Devils improved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference. It was also their first win over Geneseo since 1994, and only the second win over over the Blue Knights. The Blue Devils are 2-23-3 in the all-time series, were 0-15-3 since 1995, and now 1-8-3 under head coach Chris Case.
"I thought we didn't play very well at all in the first half," Case said. "Geneseo did a lot of good things against us. We made a mistake in the back and they countered and scored on us."
Hale accounted for all the Fredonia State scoring with her winning goal preceded by two assists. With her down trailing 1-0, she delivered a corner kick to Reilly Condidorio for the first Blue Devil goal at 60:57. Next it was a Hale corner kick resulting in a goal by Shannon Letina at 68:13.
"At halftime I got after my team a little bit," Case added. "I felt like for the first time this year, I had to get after them and they responded."
Geneseo's Olivia Panepinto scored the game-tying goal at 88:09. Amanda Grey had the earlier goal by the Blue Knights.
"That was kind of a heartbreak," Case admitted. "It could have killed us with how hard we fought to come back in the second half."
Hale's game-winner came at 101:30. She took another corner kick, yet the ball was knocked back to her. Her cross back into the box drifted across the goal-line just before a Geneseo player arrived to clear it.
"We were able to handle some adversity," Case concluded. "With the exception of our one loss, we haven't been trailing, we've always been in front. It was nice to see we were able to come back from being down."
Meaghan Meszaros was credited with three saves for the Blue Devils, who'll stay on the road for another SUNYAC game Saturday at Brockport. Game time is 1 p.m;.
Geneseo fell to 0-6-1 overall and 0-1 in the SUNYAC.
Women's Volleyball
Devils open Pool Play with 3-0 win over Oswego
GENESEO - Paulina Rein and Hannah Manning had six kills each to lead Fredonia State over Oswego, 3-0, on the opening night of SUNYAC West Division Pool Play in women's volleyball.
Rein added eight digs while Manning had five blocks and three service aces for the Blue Devils, who won the match by set scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-8. Kelly Edinger recorded 22 assists and three service aces, and Lindsey Olson (Portville) was credited with eight digs.
The Blue Devils improved to 7-7 overall heading into two more matches Saturday -- 11 a.m. vs. Brockport and 1 p.m. vs. Buffalo State.
