ONEONTA, N.Y. | Ready to get their season underway the men's soccer team took on SUNY Oneonta (1-0) this afternoon under a sunny sky. Unfortunately for the Scarlet Raiders (0-1), the sun would not shine on them this day as they would fall 2-1 to the home team.

The Scarlet Raiders' leading goal scorer from last season, Franco Catania, recorded the games first shot in the eighth minute. However, his shot would sail wide. The Red Dragons would storm down the field and rifle off three shots, two of which required Andres Medina to make a save. 

Ryan Silva nearly put the Scarlet Raiders up 1-0 with a header in the 30th minute but Francesco Scotti was able to get his hands on it. 

With just four minutes remaining in the half, the Red Dragons got their opportunity and capitalized. A two on one breakaway allowed Witman Hernandez to play Denis Fleming into space where he was able to tuck it under an outstretched Medina.

Rutgers-Newark caught a break 9 minutes into the second half and was awarded a penalty kick. Silva stepped up to the spot and had his chance saved by Scotti. Silva corraled the rebound and saw his attempt bounce off of the crossbar and back into play. Just six minutes later, however, Anthony Oliveira received a pass from Joe Alba and was able to find the back of the net to tie the game up at one.

With 15 minutes left in the game, the Red Dragons would strike again to give them the lead for good. Fleming would score an unassisted game-winning goal as SUNY Oneonta went into defensive mode to preserve the win. The Scarlet Raiders were unable to record a shot in the final 15 minutes as they fell 2-1 in their opening game of 2019.

The men are back in action tomorrow against SUNY Cortland at 4:00 pm in Cortland, NY.