Alfred and Utica Win

8/30/2014 10:34:00 PM

ALFRED 1, Juniata 0
Late goal by midfielder Kyle Craver leads Saxons to first win in 2014.
 
The Saxons came out shooting against Juniata College in the first half of the second round of the Frostburg State University Tournament on Saturday afternoon with eight shots in the first half.  Despite plenty of action for Juniata's tandem keeper approach for Jonathan Phillips and James Johnson, no goals were scored going into the half.
 
The second half appeared to be more of the same coming out of the gate, but the Saxons refused to be silenced.  In the 70^th minute Richard Lander ripped a shot that was denied by Juniata's Johnson, but Craver followed up the shot to find the back of the net to put the Saxons up 1-0.
 
From there the Saxons took hold of the game and refused to let go as they didn't let up another shot on goal the rest of the game. 


UTICA 4, Purchase 0
The Utica College men's soccer team has opened the season 2-0 for the third time in the last four years after a convincing 4-0 victory over visiting SUNY Purchase on Saturday at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  The Pioneers have now outscored their opponents 7-0 over the course of their first two games, after topping Sage 3-0 in their home opener on Friday night. 

Senior forward Shane Ruffing (Rochester, NY/Westborough) continued his dominant play as he added two more goals and now leads all Pioneers with five on the season.  Ruffing is off to one of the hottest starts in program-history and he is just one goal shy of his career best of six goals in a single season which he set back in 2013.  Ruffing's 36 career points (16 goals, four assists) are now tied for sixth all-time at UC and his 16 career goals are tied for fourth all-time.

Freshman forward Bita Gazashvili (Tiblisi, Georgia) netted his first collegiate goal to open the scoring on the afternoon when he gathered a loose ball in the box and beat Purchase goalie Thomas Ogrodnik to give UC a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute of play. Gazashvili now has one goal and two assists in just two games for Utica.  Purchase locked the Pioneers down for the remainder of the first half and the score was set at 1-0 as the halftime horn sounded.

Goals have come in bunches for Ruffing so far this season and nothing changed on Saturday as he opened the second half scoring with two goals in a span of 31 seconds to push the UC lead to 3-0 in the 56^th minute.  Senior defender Chris Stashko (Apalachin, NY/Apalachin) delivered the 55 yard free kick to assist Ruffing on his first goal of the game. 

Sophomore reserve Marcel Dupuis (Hannacroix, NY/Greenville) netted his first collegiate goal in the 74^th minute to secure the 4-0 victory for the Pioneers. Senior goalieDavid Abdou (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) stopped two shots in his second consecutive shutout.

UC outshot Purchase 14-4 on the afternoon, but the visiting Panthers took a 5-2 advantage in corner kick opportunities. 


Centenary 2, NAZARETH 1
Host Nazareth had a 22-13 advantage in shot Saturday but Centenary had a 2-1 edge in goals as the Cyclones rallied from an early deficit to edge the Golden Flyers on day two of the 11th annual Doug May Memorial Men's Soccer Classic at Golden Flyer Stadium.

Combined with a 3-1 win over Allegheny Friday, Nazareth completed the weekend at 1-1 overall. Centenary, of Hackettstown, N.J., is 1-0-1 overall, including a 2-2 tie at RIT Friday.

Nazareth scored in the 15th minute on a penalty kick by grad student Ryan Foley, who gained the free kick following a Centenary hand ball in the penalty box. Foley drilled the shot decisively into the upper left corner, well out of the reach of Cyclones' keeper Jesse Goleman, for his second goal of the early season.

Centenary tied the score less than nine minutes later. A free kick by Quinn Khouri was saved by Nazareth goalie Diego Abreu, but the rebound trickled free and Abiodun Lawal kicked it underneath Abreu and into the back of net for his second goal of the season.

The score went unchanged until the 63rd minute when Khouri scored on a shot that deflected off the hands of Abreu before settling into the back of the net.

Nazareth had chances to get an equalizing goal, but Goleman finished with 11 saves to preserve the victory for the Cyclones. Abreu finished with nine saves for Nazareth. Foley and sophomore Lucas Bennett combined for 11 of Nazareth's 23 shots. Each team took five corner kicks.


Baldwin Wallace 2, HOUGHTON 1 (2OT)
Baldwin Wallace scored in the 104th minute to send Houghton men's soccer to 2-1 loss in the consolation round of the Penn State Behrend Tournament on Saturday.

After the teams played to a scoreless first half, Houghton opened the scoring in the 61st minute when Jesse Toth (Victor, NY, Victor) converted a penalty kick. The Yellowjackets evened the score in the 73rd minute and the teams remained in a stalemate for the next 31 minutes before Baldwin Wallace put their own PK past Houghton keeper Jacob Dunnett (Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Kennebecasis).

Dunnett faced just three shots on goal and made one save on the night as the Highlanders outshot the Yellowjackets, 18-7, including a 5-3 edge in shots on goal. Corners were also in Houghton's favor, 8-2.


Oneonta 4, ITHACA 0 
The Ithaca College men's soccer team dropped a 4-0 decision to Oneonta Saturday in the first game of the 2014 campaign.
 
Senior Liam Joy and sophomore Sam Boylan each recorded a shot on goal. Senior goalkeeper Jordan Gentile was credited with the loss after making four saves on eight shots. Junior Nate Robinson played the final 17 minutes, making one save in his first appearance as a Bomber.
 
Oneonta got on the board twice in the first frame, as the Red Dragons scored in the 20th and 45th minutes to take a 2-0 lead. Oneonta scored two more times in the final frame (50:57 and 66:10) to push the score to 4-0 in favor of the Red Dragons.
 
The Bombers were unable to score in the closing minutes, giving Oneonta the win.