SUNY Delhi Defeats SUNY Cobleskill in NAC West Final, 4-0
DELHI, N.Y. - #1 SUNY Delhi (9-5-4) defeated #3 SUNY Cobleskill (5-11-3), 4-0, in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Men’s Soccer West Division final at Neil Riddell Field on Sunday afternoon.
TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS:
With the victory, SUNY Delhi advances to the NAC Championship for the second time in the last three seasons and will host East Division winner Thomas College in the 2024 conference title bout next Saturday, start time TBD.
For SUNY Cobleskill, the loss signals the end of the 2024 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
As it played out, the Broncos scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 23rd minute when sophomore Roberto Velasquez-Osorio (Monticello, N.Y.) netted his eighth marker of the season. Freshman midfielder Kian Flynn (Waxhaw, N.C.) doubled the hosts’ advantage almost exactly six minutes later with his second goal of the 2024 campaign.
Nearly 40 minutes elapsed without a goal before SUNY Delhi hit pay dirt twice in a matter of 61 seconds to cap the game scoring. Senior Michael Williams, Jr. (Lake Grove, N.Y.) struck off a Velasquez-Osorio pass at the 66:40 mark and senior Erik Kleczkowski (Staten Island, N.Y.) tacked on an insurance goal at the 67:41 time stamp.
TEAM STATS:
SUNY Delhi held the lead in shots (13-5) and shots on goal (9-3) while SUNY Cobleskill recorded a 5-4 corner kicks edge on the afternoon.
THE KEEPERS:
Delhi sophomore starter Salvatore Meloni (Ridge, N.Y.) picked up the win after making a pair of saves in 81:10 between the pipes and freshman Joseph Musso (Staten Island, N.Y.) stopped the only shot he faced in 8:50 of relief duty.
Cobleskill sophomore netminder Adam Champlin (South Kortright, N.Y.) made five saves in a losing effort.