ONEONTA, NY – A goal with 2:14 left in the first half held up as Oneonta fended off a late Hartwick charge in the second half in a 1-0 Red Dragon victory in a battle of city rivals Wednesday night on Elmore Field. The Hawks' five-match unbeaten streak is snapped with the loss. They drop to 11-5-1 overall. The Red Dragons win their sixth straight contest and up their season mark to 7-9-1.
           
The Red Dragons generated more offensively in the opening half of play as they out-shot the Hawks by a margin of 10-2 and earned all six of the half's corners. Oneonta's final shot ended up being the game-winner. A deep corner kick from Emily Opalinski made it over the head of Hartwick keeper Cassandra Robataille (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam). The ball took a deflection and bounced right in front of the goal line where Mykayla Ryder was there to put her shot into the roof of the net.
           
The Hawks had a stronger effort in the second and generated a couple of chances early. Ashley Connolly (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) put a shot wide inside of six minutes. One minute later, Sierra Bentley's (Worcester, NY/Schenevus) corner produced a powerful header from Madison Miller (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) but it went just wide of the target.
           
'Wick stepped up its pressure with under 10 minutes left as it searched for the tying goal. Connolly and Sara McGiff (Brookhaven, NY/St. Anthony's) both had shots on goal but they were corralled by Oneonta goalkeeper Melissa Muller.
           
With just under four minutes to play, McGiff played a ball from midfield over the top of the Red Dragon defense springing Connolly on a breakaway. She took her opportunity at the top of the 18 with space left to be had and put it wide of goal.
           
The Hawks' final chance came after generating their second and final corner of the night. Bentley served the ball in to Miller but she couldn't get up over the ball and put her header over the bar.
           
Oneonta closed the match with a 13-8 edge in shots. The Hawks would out-shoot the visitors in the second half by a 6-3 margin.
           
Robataille made five saves in the Hartwick goal. Muller ended the night with two stops for Oneonta.
           
The Hawks have one game remaining on their schedule on Saturday, October 28 against Sage. A Hawks' win coupled with a Nazareth victory against Elmira and 'Wick would host the Empire 8 Conference Tournament on November 3-4.