Nazareth and Alfred Get Shutout at Home
Bryant & Stratton 2, NAZARETH 0
Bryant & Stratton scored once in the first half and once in the second half to defeat host Nazareth 2-0 in a non-conference men's soccer game on Tuesday evening. Freshman
Diego Abreu amassed a game-high 11 saves for the Golden Flyers.
Following the loss, Nazareth slips to 3-10 overall. With the victory, the Bobcats improve to 8-0-1 overall. With Bryant & Stratton transitioning to a four-year school, the contest counts in the schools' overall records, but it is not considered an NCAA game.
Erickson Alves opened the scoring 9:16 into regulation after receiving a pass from Yussuf Olajide. Olajide slid the ball from the top of the box toward the left post. Abreu went low to block the bottom corner of the Nazareth net, and Alves chipped his shot into the top-left corner, just under the crossbar. It was Alves' fourth goal of the year.
The contest remained a one-goal game until the final five minutes when Bradley Nestor added an insurance goal for the Bobcats, which was his fifth of the season. Olajide earned the assist on Nestor's goal as he tapped the ball back from inside the Golden Flyers' box to the edge of the penalty area. Nestor ripped his shot from the edge of the box into the right side of Nazareth's net to secure the victory.
For the Golden Flyers' offense, juniors
Brendan Miles and
Clement Mutambo, sophomore
Lucas Bennett, and graduate student
Ryan Foley each had one shot on goal. Bryant & Stratton's goalie, Frank Valladares, saved all four shots to earn the shutout.
The Bobcats finished with a 22-9 advantage in total shots, and they had a 6-5 edge in corner kick chances.
Buffalo State 1, ALFRED 0
The AU men's soccer team was topped by the Buff State Bengals 1-0 in an intense non-conference matchup Tuesday evening.
Coming out of the gates the Saxons looked to own the tempo of the game, passing the ball masterfully around the field holding possession. However, as the game went on Buffalo State started to create chances on the ball as well.
The Saxons reassumed possession dominance with ten minutes left in the game and began creating multiple threats on goal. The first came with approximately 9:15 left in the first half and sophomore
Richard Lander charged into the box on a loose ball and savagely struck the ball. However, as the ball wrapped around the keeper, it passed the opposite post as well.
It was Lander again with approximately 2:30 left in the half who won a ball at the top of the eighteen, spun and ripped a shot, but the ball was tipped away by Buff State keeper Hunter Hein. The Saxons threatened again with under a minute to go in the first when
Ian St. Pierre found the ball at the top of the box and took a cross body shot, but Hein was there with a full extension diving save to keep the game tied 0-0 going into the half.
The Bengals came out of the intermission ready to play and earned the sole goal of the game when Joe Vucic approached a bouncing ball just inside the eighteen and flicked it over the head of the charging freshmen keeper,
Chris Gutierrez.
Though they were down with only minutes left, the Saxons refused to give up, putting multiple scoring chances on goal. Most notable of which was struck by Lander on a free kick in the 77
th minute that was tipped in the air by Hein, bounced off the crossbar and leaped out of play.
The physical game saw four yellow cards (1 to Alfred and 3 to Buff State). Buff State held the advantage on corner kicks 5-4 and shots on goal with nine. Gutierrez finished the night with eight saves.