Box Score BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Casey Sullivan had a tremendous performance for The College at Brockport Men's Soccer team Saturday afternoon, withstanding several potential game-ending shots to save Brockport and keep the Golden Eagles unscathed in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play.
Brockport (5-1-2, 0-0-2 SUNYAC) and Fredonia tied 0-0 in a game that followed a celebration for the 60th anniversary of the 1955 Brockport Men's Soccer National Title. The game was far more exhilarating than the score makes it sound as both goalkeepers made tremendous plays to leave the score neutral.
No one was bigger than Sullivan's save in the second overtime period. The Golden Eagle faithful all held their breath as a penalty kick was awarded to Fredonia following a foul inside the keeper's box. Sullivan made a phenomenal decision and selected the proper position to defend as he dove to his left and corralled the ball.
Sullivan made ten saves in total and each successive save seemed to better the previous stop leading up to the double overtime penalty kick block. He also made a breathtaking save late in the second half in which Fredonia had a free kick opportunity just outside of the box. The Blue Devil player snuck the ball past the Golden Eagle wall towards the far post. Sullivan made a diving stop before another Blue Devil quickly struck the rebounded ball. Sullivan's lightning quick reflexes allowed him to get his feet underneath himself again to make another diving save to push the ball out of bounds.
The Golden Eagles offense struggled to get a shot past the Blue Devil's goalie but not for a lack of effort. They had several opportunities that were hindered by the keeper. With a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the second half David LaPietra stole a ball in midfield and sent a beautiful arcing pass towards the net and Peter DiLorenzo. Before DiLorenzo could settle the ball, the play was whistled dead as offside was called.
Another scoring opportunity came with two minutes left when Connor Melanophy sent a low driving pass to the far post. Unfortunately no Golden Eagle was there in time to head it in but Stephen Latino collected the ball and crammed a pass through defenders to Patrick Sprague. Sprague one touched the ball for control and sent a booming shot too high.
Collin Goettel nearly put Brockport on the board with less than 30 seconds remaining. He rocketed a shot towards the net from about 30 yards out on a free kick into a cluster of blue and gold before the Blue Devil goalkeeper snagged the ball out of the air.
Matthew Roorda had a similar situation in the first overtime. He struck a hard ball from about 40 yards out on a free kick that went just wide of the far post.
Brockport's Chase Crawley and Mark Sylvia were consistently the last line of defense for the Golden Eagles and helped clear several other potential scoring opportunities for Fredonia.
The Golden Eagles travel to Oneonta next weekend to play the Red Dragons on Friday at 3 p.m. as the team continues its stretch of SUNYAC games with another contest with New Paltz on Saturday at 1 p.m. Be sure to stay up to date on your Golden Eagles scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.