There were a handful of good scoring opportunities on each side as Rochester and SUNY Cortland battled to a 0-0 double overtime tie in the Flower City Classic at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Cortland won the title on the first tiebreaker (after head to head result). The Red Dragons scored four goals in a 4-0 win over St. John Fisher on Friday night. Rochester defeated SUNY Oswego, 2-0, in its Friday opener. Goal difference was the first determining factor.
Both goalkeepers – Michael Peacock of Rochester and Jack Carillo of Cortland – made three saves. Each team had a defender block one shot.
Both teams played well defensively – Cortland trying to stop Rochester's grouping of Sean Hantes, Steve Welles, and J.J. Dennstedt. The Yellowjackets were the same way on defense themselves, concentrating on stopping the long balls to Bryan Patterson (who had two goals on Friday), Andrew Schwert, and Ayinde George.
The two best chances of the first half both came from Rochester defender Misha Carrel-Thomas. With just over 22 minutes left in the period, he hit a long chip to Dennstedt who cut through the box and headed it just past the left post. Three minutes later, Carrel-Thomas hit a long, looping ball from the right sideline at midfield. It dipped sharply when it reached the goalmouth and Carillo did well to turn it against the crossbar. His defenders cleared the rebound from danger.
Welles, who had a goal and an assist in Friday's 2-0 win over Oswego, was in the middle of two good chances early in the second half. Two minutes into the period, Dominic Pellingra threw the ball long from the right sideline to Welles whose header flashed wide of the right upright. With the match an hour old, Welles centered the ball to Hantes whose shot was blocked by Mike Jock.
Cortland counterattacked immediately and produced its best chance. Patterson collected a through ball with his back to the goal, about 15 yards off the line equal with the right post. As he bumped with a defender, Patterson whirled and left-footed the ball just past the left post.
The save of the match came from Carillo in the opening minute of the first overtime. Rochester's Josh Biegel pushed a pass from the arc to Dennstedt on the left side of the box. His right-footed shot was blocked by a diving Carillo who charged off the line to challenge. It gave the Yellowjackets a corner kick.
Emerson Caiza Zabala created two good opportunities for the Red Dragons in the second overtime. With 6:14 left, he skimmed a free kick into the box where three teammates lurked, but none of them could get to the ball. In the final minute of the match, he hit a long cross from left wing into the center of the crease. Peacock charged off the line and leapt high to pull it down with Cortland's Max Grant waiting to pounce.
Individual tournament awards were presented to Cortland's Peter Degere as the Most Valuable Player, Jock as the Best Defensive Player, and Rochester's Welles as the Best Offensive Player.
