Naz, Stevens, Utica and Houghton Down Competition

9/28/2013 9:10:00 PM

Nazareth 3, Elmira 2 (Box Score)
Senior Simon Mounsdon scored two goals to lead host Nazareth to a 3-2 victory over Elmira in a men's Empire 8 Conference soccer game on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Dylan Toscano had the Golden Flyers' other goal.  

Elmira opened the scoring 5:46 into the game after a shot by Ernesto Valverde was deflected off the head of junior Kory Seibt. Seibt was attempting to head the ball back to freshman goalkeeper Nate Ripic. 

Following the defensive miscue, the Golden Flyers took over control of the possession. Mounsdon's first goal came with 15:19 to play in the first half. Mounsdon let loose a right-footed blast into upper-right side of the goal. 

The Golden Flyers' offensive attack continued in the second half. In the opening minutes, Lapinski batted out a cross from sophomore Brendan Miles, and senior Scott Duarte's rebound shot from inside the penalty area was off the mark.

The Soaring Eagles answered with a scoring opportunity as Velverde beat the Golden Flyers' defense. Valverde's chip shot attempt soared over Ripic but landed just wide of the right post. Ripic had come off his line to challenge Valverde.

With about 27 minutes remaining in regulation, Nazareth took its first lead of the game on Toscano's goal. Senior Jason Renfro set up the scoring opportunity after chasing down a ball rolling toward the endline and passing the ball back to Toscano.

Following another save by Ripic in the 83rd minute, Nazareth's offense took advantage of a two-on-two opportunity. McCoy ignited the scoring opportunity by passing the ball forward to Duarte. Duarte attacked toward the Soaring Eagles' net, then dropped the ball back to Mounsdon for a scoring opportunity at the top-center of the Elmira box. Mounsdon scored the game-winning goal with 7:44 to play in regulation. With his two goals, Mounsdon has three goals on the season.

Ripic finished with six saves to earn the victory. Lapinski was credited with three saves in the loss. Nazareth finished with a 19-16 edge in total shots, while Elmira had a 4-1 advantage in corner kick opportunities.


Stevens 4, Alfred 0 (Box Score)
Senior forward Stephen Dunbar scored two goals in the first 21:16 of match time and the defense posted its fourth shutout of the year as the posted a 4-0 win at Alfred University Saturday.
 
Dunbar put the Ducks on top in the 11th minute with an unassisted marker, and then found the net again at 21:16 when he put away a feed from sophomore midfielder Carson Pryor.
 
Less than five minutes later, sophomore Colin Phillips tied Dunbar for the team lead (5) with a perfectly struck free kick, giving Stevens a 3-0 edge after a shade over 26 minutes of action.
 
The 3-0 score would hold through intermission as the Ducks held a 9-3 edge in shots and a 2-0 margin in corners after 45 minutes.
 
In the second, Stevens continued to dominate, out-shooting Alfred 16-0 to end with a 25-3 advantage. The Ducks also out-cornered Alfred 9-0 in the final 45 and 11-0 for the match.
 
Stevens' final score came with 12:01 remaining and was recorded by freshman midfielder Chris Renna. The tally was the first of his career (third point) and was assisted by classmate Jay Mikula.
 
Senior goalkeeper Paul Killian earned the win in goal, making one save in over 75 minutes of action. Freshman Mike Renna played the final 14-plus between the pipes.
 
The Ducks have now outscored their opponents 26-4 overall, while averaging 3.25 goals for and just .50 goals against. They are plus-44 in shot attempts, making the most out of each one by putting 47.1 percent on net. Stevens also has assisted on 18 of its 26 tallies.


Utica 3, St. John Fisher 0 (Box Score)
The Utica College men's soccer team got back to its winning ways Saturday afternoon shutting out Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher College, 3-0, at Growney Stadium in Pittsford, NY.  Sophomore Greg Silvestro scored back-to-back goals to lead the Pioneers

UC returns home Tuesday, Oct. 1st for a non-conference match against Morrisville State.  Game time is set for 7 p.m. under the lights of Charles A. Gaetano. Fisher is back in action Saturday, Oct. 5th when it travels to Elmira College for a 3 p.m. contest against the Soaring Eagles

Utica got on the board early and never looked back as Silvestro peppered the back of the net off a free kick at 3:19 and then headed his third season score off a corner kick from junior Jeffrey Cupka (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) just before the break at 40:55.  The first half stats faired pretty even as UC outshot the home team 8-5 while Fisher took a 7-3 advantage on corner kicks.

The squads battled back and forth for most of the second half featuring 43 plus minutes of scoreless play before UC locked in the victory with a late goal at 88:42 en route to the afternoon victory. Junior Shane Ruffing (Rochester, NY/Westborough) scored his third goal of the season to cap the Pioneer scoring for the day.

Senior Anthony Caruso recorded four saves in the win while Fisher goalkeeper Kyle Metcalfe stopped five shots while allowing three scores in the loss.

Silvestro and senior David Gould headed the Pioneer shots with three apiece while Ruffing and senior Kevin McAllister each chipped in with two on the day.


Houghton 4, Ithaca 1 (Box Score)
Houghton men's soccer continued its strong start to the 2013 season, getting a 4-1 over Ithaca College on Saturday to stay unbeaten.

Luke Crawford headed in a cross from Brady Robinson in the 11th minute to put the Highlanders up 1-0 on the Bombers, but Ithaca responded in the 24th minute with a looping header of their own that went over the outstretched arms of Houghton keeper Jacob Dunnett. That goal broke a string of 533 minutes without allowing a goal. Dunnett and the Highlanders had recorded five-straight shutouts.

After a slow first in half, in which they were outshot 5-3, the Highlanders controlled the last 45 minutes.Kevin Miranda tallied his first score of the season 13 minutes into the second stanza, redirecting a cross from Landon Sheaffer.  The duo would change roles just 12 minutes later when Miranda sent a perfect through ball to Sheaffer, who slipped a low shot past the Bomber keeper. Cory Martin closed the scoring in the 76th minute, making a long run down the center of the field and beating the keeper low to the right.

Houghton outshot the Bombers 10-8 on the afternoon.

Dunnett finished with three saves in net.