Sage Ties SUNY-Old Westbury 1-1 in Skyline Opener

Sage Ties SUNY-Old Westbury 1-1 in Skyline Opener

OLD WESTBURY, NY – River Seybolt's (Seldon, NY/Longwood) penalty kick goal in the 74th minute gave Sage a 1-1 tie on the road against SUNY-Old Westbury Saturday afternoon in the Gator's Skyline opener.

Less than two minutes into the game, Old Westbury's (1-1-4, 0-0-1 Skyline) Alexander Hilton hit a header wide off a Jorge Rodriguez corner for the first shot of the game. In the 7th minute, Sage's (1-2-3, 0-0-1 Skyline) James Lagunas (Passaic, NJ/Passaic County Technical) put a shot on frame, but Panther goalie Mike Warren saved the shot.

After six minutes of back-and-forth action, Old Westbury's Stephen Locurcio netted the first goal of the game off a pass from James Marchena.

The Panthers took three unanswered shots following their goal until a header from Sage's Kyle LeClerc (Beacon, NY/Beacon) went wide of the net in the 27th minute. After a pair of shots by Old Westbury, Paul Reynoso (Oswego, NY/G. Ray Bodley) shot a header at the Panther net in the 39th minute, but Warren was there with the save. Alex Lanza (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill) followed Reynoso's header two minutes later with another Sage shot, but Warren saved the shot once again.

At the beginning of the second half, Old Westbury's Adan Velasquez and Fabrizio Chamorro hit the Sage post and crossbar, respectively in the 46th minute, but the Panthers couldn't capitalize on the chances. Sage took its first shot of the second half in the 51st minute when Liam Hayes (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia) put one on frame, but Warren was there to stop it.

In the 56th minute, Sage kept the pressure up with Reynoso shot that was saved and deflected out of bounds for a Gator corner. Sage's Eduardo Angel (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) was able to get a head on the Lanza corner, but it was blocked by the Panther defense. Less than a minute later, Seybolt took a shot that was deflected by Warren in goal. The sophomore than took a second shot off the rebound, but it went high. After an Old Westbury shot in the 63rd minute, Kevin Saar (Binghamton, NY/Windsor Central) had a shot two minutes later that was blocked by the Panther defense.

After almost ten minutes of action, Sage drew a penalty kick in the 74th minute. Seybolt took his second penalty kick of the year and found the back of the net to tie the game.

Six minutes after Seybolt's penalty kick, LeClerc had another header on frame, but Warren saved his shot. The Panthers got off two more shots before the end of regulation, but they fell short.

In the first overtime, Old Westbury's Jon Kerby put a header on fram in the 92nd minute but Caelen Kohut (Ancram, NY/Hudson) came up with the save for the Gators. Sage responded a little over a minute later with a shot from Seybolt, but Warren came up with his ninth save of the game. Sage's Sarpong Adjei (Bronx, NY/DeWitt Clinton) had the last opportunity of overtime in the 96th minute, but the sophomore's shot went wide.

Sage outshot Old Westbury 16-14 with the Panthers coming out with more corners 6-5. Seybolt led the game with five shots while Old Westbury's Seaton Cole had four shots.

Kohut (1-2-3) and Warren (1-1-4) were each credited with a tie on four and nine save efforts, respectively.

After today, Sage sits tied for seventh with Old Westbury and Purchase with one tie a piece. Merchant Marine currently sits atop the table with a record of 2-0 with Yeshiva in second with a 1-3-1 conference record. Mount Saint Vincent, St. Joseph's – Brooklyn, Farmingdale and Mount Saint Mary are tied for third with records of 1-0.

Sage continues its Skyline schedule on at Mount Saint Mary on Tues. Sept., 20 at 7 p.m.