The men’s soccer team lost their third straight game Tuesday to SUNY–Cortland in heartbreaking fashion, after the Red Dragons rallied from a 1-0 deficit to take a late 2-1 lead.
The game started with the Bombers snapping a two game scoreless streak in the ninth minute. Sophomore forward Steve Kinslow headed a pass from senior midfielder Matt Baluzy past Cortland goalkeeper Patrick Pidgeon giving the Blue and Gold a 1-0 lead.
The goal was Kinslow’s second of the year and gave the Bombers their first lead of the season. It was also the first goal since Kinslow scored the only goal for the Blue and Gold in a 1-1 tie, September 4th against Rochester Institute of Technology.
The Red Dragons tied the game in the 28th minute when senior defender Steve Bartkowski headed the ball in from six yards out after a long throw from the right side by freshman defender Manny Moyse.
Sophomore midfielder Simon Park then gave the Red Dragons the lead in the 85th minute, shooting a low cross from junior midfielder Max Grant past senior goalkeeper Justin Parlapiano and just inside the right post.
Sophomore forward Max Grigri said afterward that there weren’t enough bright spots for a winless Bombers team that has now lost three straight games. “Not much improvement for us,” Grigri said. “We obviously have a lot of work to do. We let down for a second and we got scored on.”
Bombers Head Coach Andy Byrne was pleased by the team’s more frequent scoring chances. “We created more chances to score today,” Byrne said. “The thing we’ve got to work on is finishing them.” The Blue and Gold managed 17 shots against the Cortland defense, and seven on goal.
The loss to the Red Dragons was the first for the Bombers since 2007 and Baluzy said it was a big disappointment. “It’s still a big deal,” Baluzy said. “This is the first year we’ve lost to them since I’ve been here.”
Despite the loss Baluzy thinks the Blue and Gold are improving, but need to play better on a game-to-game basis. “We’ve gotten better,” Baluzy said. “The only problem is consistency between the games. We play good at times, we play bad at times.”
Parlapiano made three saves on five shots on goal for the Bombers, who fell to 0-3-2 with the loss. The Bombers’ next game is against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 4 p.m. Saturday at Carp Wood Field.
