Houghton Posts Shutout; Naz Edged by Buffalo State
HOUGHTON 4, Roberts Wesleyan
The longstanding Houghton vs. Roberts Wesleyan rivalry continued Tuesday night with Highlanders men's soccer coming out ahead, 4-0, under rainy conditions on Burke Field.
The Higlanders improved to 7-8-2 on the season while the Redhawks dropped to 9-5-2.
Houghton controlled every aspect early in the contest and produced six shots over the game's first 26 minutes. Just a minute later, shot number seven found the back of the net, as
Ben Munkittrick (Ottawa, Ontario, Canterbury)sent in a perfectly placed low cross that
Cory Brautigam (Doylestown, PA, Plumstead Christian) one-timed from 10 yards out.
Jared Toth (Victor, NY, Victor) gave the hosts a two goal cushion less than two minutes later, knocking in a loose ball after a scramble in front of the net.
The half ended with Houghton holding that 2-0 lead and a 10-1 advantage in shots.
Houghton's dominant play continued into the second half with
Jesse Toth (Victor, NY, Victor) breaking through with a goal in the 53rd minute.
Tyler Inch (McAllisterville, PA, East Juniata) served in a perfectly placed free kick that Toth headed in past the Roberts keeper.
Landon Sheaffer (Richfield, PA, East Juniata) almost tallied goal number four a minute later, but his 20-yard shot deflected off the crossbar.
It was Ben Munkittrick who got the fourth Highlander goal. The freshman found himself alone on a long run and faced a one on one opportunity with the keeper. After his first shot was stopped, Munkittrick pounded home the rebound for a 4-0 Houghton lead.
Jacob Dunnett (Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Kennebecasis) only needed to make one stop to register his sixth shutout of the season. The Highlanders outshot the Redhawks, 18-4.
Buffalo State 2, NAZARETH 1
Visiting Buffalo State scored twice within a three-minute stretch of the second half Tuesday to rally past Nazareth for a 2-1 non-conference victory in a men's soccer match at Golden Flyer Stadium.
Buffalo State improved to 6-10-2 overall with its fourth straight win. Nazareth dropped to 5-11 overall and had a two-game winning streak snapped. The Golden Flyers, at 3-3 in Empire 8 Conference play, still have a chance to make the E8 Tournament with a victory in Saturday's regular-season finale at Ithaca at 1 p.m. Utica also is in the mix and hosts Alfred Saturday at 4. If Nazareth loses, the Golden Flyers could still qualify if Alfred beats Utica.
On Tuesday, Buffalo State had advantages in shots (23-11) and corner kicks (7-4), but the game remained scoreless through the first 45 minutes. Nazareth keeper
Diego Abreu had six of his 11 saves in the first half, including two that he punched over the crossbar, to keep the game scoreless.
Nazareth finally broke through in the 48th minute when senior
James Wheeler scored his second goal of the season after an unsuccessful clearing attempt by the Bengals. Wheeler trapped the ball from about 25 yards out and lofted a shot over Bengals' goalie Ian Huntoon and into the set.
With rain beginning to fall, the Bengals scored the tying and game-winning goals less than three minutes apart. The first goal came in the 66th minute off the foot of Francis Garcia, who redirected a corner kick by Tristan Myers. Less than three minutes later, in the 69th minute, Sam Wasson scored the game-winner on a low shot from the top of the box following another corner kick. Nazareth tried to clear the ball out from in front of the goal mouth, but Wasson converted for his first goal of the season.
Nazareth had a good opportunity to tie the game in the 79th when a free kick by Wheeler was headed into the goal by
Ramez Al-Hebshi. The goal, however, was nullified by an offside violation.