The SUNY Oneonta women's soccer team will host Plattsburgh this Saturday at 1pm in the first round SUNYAC tournament.  Oneonta is the defending conference champion and will have to begin its quest for title No. 13 as the No. 4 seed.
 
Admission to the game is $6 for adults, $3 for children 6-12, and free for children 5 and under and SUNY students with a valid college ID.
 
The Red Dragons enter the tournament with an overall record of 7-8-3 after its 2-1 victory on Wednesday at home versus Hartwick.  They finished 4-3-2 in the conference to finish in fourth place.
 
Oneonta is making its 19^th SUNYAC tournament appearance, as they chase its 13^th conference title.  Last year, they defeated Brockport, 2-1, in the semifinals before running past SUNY Geneseo, 4-1, in the championship game, both of which were played on Red Dragon Soccer Field.  Oneonta won nine straight SUNYAC championships from 1999-2008, which is the longest such streak in the history of the conference.
 
In their regular season matchup in Oneonta, the Red Dragons got a goal in the final minute of play to defeat Plattsburgh 2-1.  Junior Jessica Lyden (Burnt Hills/Burnt Hills) headed in the game-winner off a perfect service by classmate Kayla Ceschini (Miller Place/Miller Place).
 
The two teams have met three previous times in the conference tournament, the last coming in the 2010 championship game, which was a 2-1 victory for Oneonta.  The Red Dragons hold a 2-1 advantage all-time against the Cardinals in conference tournament play.
 
Junior Taylor Messina (Smithtown/Smithtown East) leads the team with four goals while classmates Caitlyn LaPier (Chazy/Chazy) and Kayla Distin (Fulton/G. Ray Bodley) are tied with three goals each entering the tournament.  They each have a game-winning goal to their credit as well.
 
Juniors Rori Stark (Brewster/Brewster) and Kelley Murphy (Albany/Colonie Central) have shared time in goal this fall.  Murphy has logged 965 minutes while Stark has played 719 minutes.  Murphy has made 13 starts and is 4-5-1 with a 1.12 goals against while recording two shutouts.  Stark has started five games and is 3-3-2 with a goals against average of 1.38.
 
Plattsburgh will enter Saturday's contest 9-7-1 overall.  They earned the No. 5 seed in this year's tournament after finishing 4-4-1 in conference play.  The Cardinals have won three of its last four games.
 
Saturday's winner will travel to top-seeded SUNY Geneseo next Wednesday to play in the SUNYAC semifinals.  The championship game will be played at the site of the highest remaining seed after Wednesday's matches.