Tough Day for Men's Soccer

9/24/2013 9:23:00 PM

Plattsburgh 1, Utica 0 (Box Score)
Plattsburgh's Matt Hamilton scored the lone goal of the contest in the 81st minute to help lift the visiting Cardinals past Utica College 1-0 Tuesday night on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  Hamilton's second goal of the season came off a crossing pass assist from the foot of Nick Parrella to help the Cardinals (6-1-1) get back in the win column after dropping their first contest of the season against Skidmore over the weekend. 

Utica got the better of the visitors in the first half, out shooting the Cardinals by a 3-1 margin, and the Pioneers also earned a 7-2 lead in corner kick opportunities, but the score remained stagnant at 0-0 as the halftime horn sounded. 

The second half proved to be all Plattsburgh as the Cardinals outshot the home squad 8-1 and earned six corner kicks while eventually punching home the game-winner with less than ten minutes to go in the contest. 

Utica's Anthony Caruso notched three saves in net for the Pioneers, all in the second half, while Mitchell Jordan was called upon to make just one save in his first shutout and third victory of the season.  


Wilkes 3, Elmira 2 (Box Score)
The Elmira College men's soccer team suffered a last-minute loss to visiting Wilkes University Tuesday afternoon, surrendering the game-winning goal with just 1:33 left on the clock. With the loss, the Soaring Eagles drop to 4-3 on the year while the win brings the Colonels to 7-2. 

The start of the game created a few good scoring opportunities for the Colonels, but goalkeeper, Nick Lapinski made four early saves to keep Wilkes off the scoreboard. The Soaring Eagles followed up Lapinksi's strong play to give him a lead as they tallied the first goal of the game. Ernesto Valverde flicked a header to a streaking Andre Germano who finished his left-footed shot past the diving goalie. The 1-0 lead would hold until halftime.

It was a tale of two halves for both EC and Wilkes as each team started the second half differently than they had ended the first half. The Colonels were intent on tying up the score and did so almost four minutes into the half with John Stoner's first goal of the game. He found himself with an open lane to the goal and put his shot on net. Lapinksi was able to get his fingertips on the ball, but his deflection did not carry away enough as the ball hit the inside of the post and crossed the goal line.

The Soaring Eagles would respond, however, as they would retake the lead just four minutes later as Brian Lowe would get in on the action, finishing a volley past the Colonel keeper. Michael Bryant would tally an assist on the play.

The 2-1 lead for EC remained for the next 20 minutes, but the offensive pressure applied by Wilkes was creating a number of opportunities for them to tally the equalizer. The Colonels did just that in the 72nd minute when Nicholas Patricia redirected an Adbullah Albannay cross into the net.

As the clock ticked down, it looked as though the game was headed to overtime, but Wilkes had other plans. The Colonels crossed the ball into the box where it was tipped around by a number of players, but not cleared by the Soaring Eagles. Stoner found his way through the confusion to net his second goal of the game and give his team a 3-2 lead. EC tried to score a late game-tying goal, however, their efforts were thwarted as the final whistle blew.



Rochester 4, St. John Fisher 0 (Box Score)
Three first half goals proved to be enough, as the St. John Fisher College men's soccer team fell to the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets 4-0, Tuesday night at Fauver Stadium.
 
The first half belonged to Rochester, as the home team scored in the game's opening minutes.  The Yellow Jackets padded their lead in the 15^th minute and would later add a third goal with time winding down in the opening half of play.
 
In the second half, the Cardinals looked to be more aggressive, but a fourth Rochester goal put the contest out of reach for Fisher.
 
Josh Klein came up with four saves in net for Fisher, while Josh Tomko, Joey Plummer and Alex Stryker each recorded one shot.