Ithaca Men's Soccer Picks Up Win in Empire 8 Opener
ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca men's soccer team (1-3-1, 1-0-0 Empire 8) capitalized on a first-half corner kick opportunity to score the game's only goal in a 1-0 victory over St. John Fisher (1-5-0, 0-1-0 Empire 8) Saturday afternoon at Carp Wood Field.
Junior Ryan Norland (East Brunswick/East Brunswick, N.J.) headed in his first goal of the season from about eight yards out and it proved to be the game-winning goal. Following a corner kick, a Bomber shot attempt was deflected in the penalty area and fell to sophomore forward James Shankland (Pleasantville/Pleasantville) who chipped the ball back across the face of goal. Norland sent a looping header inside of the right post with 6:37 remaining in the first half.
Earlier in the first half, Ithaca had another solid scoring opportunity when sophomore Brennan Edmonds (Trumansburg/Ithaca) was played through from the midfield and forced the St. John Fisher goalkeeper to come off his line and make a save.
Ithaca limited St. John Fisher to just five shots in the game and two were on target. Freshman goalkeeper Jordan Gentile (Manlius-Pebble Hill/Syracuse) picked up his second straight shutout. The Bombers held an 11-5 advantage in shots in the game, and earned 10 corner kicks to St. John Fisher's zero.
Box Score and Play-by-Play