Stevens Wins at Home; Alfred and Utica Fall on the Road
STEVENS 2, Vassar 0
Behind two second half goals and clamp-down defense, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team knocked-off Vassar College 2-0 Wednesday afternoon in Hoboken.
The win evens the Stevens record at 3-3-0 while Vassar drops to 5-2-0. The victory was the third straight at home for Stevens.
After a shot from junior
Carson Pryor was saved by sophomore Adam Warner a little over a minute into the game, both teams traded possessions to keep the match scoreless. Junior
Colin Phillips was able to fire off a shot in 19
th minute that was saved before Warner made another in the 33
rd minute off a shot from senior
Kevin Calloway.
Stevens managed two more shots in the half off the foot of sophomore
Chris Renna, but Warner made a save on one before another went high to keep the game deadlocked going into the break.
The second half brought more Stevens pressure followed by strong defense before the Ducks were finally able to break through in the 64
th minute. Senior Quinn Connor controlled a pass on the right side of the box and made a perfect cross pass to the middle where sophomore
Patrick Masur headed it in for the score.
Vassar attempted an answer with a shot on goal in the 74
th minute, but sophomore
Mike Renna made the save to preserve the lead. The Ducks took advantage in the 88
th minute when Calloway sprinted past the defense and blasted a shot left of the diving goalie that found the back of the net to extend the lead to 2-0. The goal was Calloway's second of the season and all that Stevens would need as they closed out the half and the win.
The Ducks defense allowed just one Vassar shot all day and countered with 16 shots of their own. In goal, Renna made the save on Vassar's only shot to record his second career shutout.
Geneseo 2, ALFRED 1
AU fell to the Geneseo Knights 4-2 despite taking a 2-1 lead into half-time.
The Saxons were first on the board in this Wednesday evening thriller in the 18
th minute when
Omar Mohamed found senior Jeff Thomas at the top of the box. Thomas received the ball and immediately sent a screaming shot into the top right corner of the net.
Ten minutes later the Saxons were lighting up the scoreboard again. After a foul on Geneseo, sophomore
Richard Lander sent a free kick soaring into the box and found
James Piombino who tapped the ball past the Knights' keeper Logan Calvey putting the Saxons up 2-0.
However, the momentum shifted in the 35
th minute when Mike Skrzypczyk netted a ball after subbing into the game just a minute earlier. The Knights continued to test the Saxons over the remainder of the half taking five shots, putting only one on goal due to a tough back line. The half would end 2-1.
The action picked right back up two minutes into the second half when Geneseo's Richard Bellusci rocketed a ball off the post into the net leveling the game at two goals apiece. The Knights then took the lead in the 58
th minute, following it up with an insurance goal in the 73
rd.
Junior keeper
Matthew Unick finished the night with 10 saves.
Hobart 4, UTICA 0
Four different Statesmen scored as the Hobart College soccer team downed Utica 4-0 in a non-conference game played Wednesday afternoon on Cozzens Field. First-year Zach Poretz and junior Marco Ronnins led the Statesmen each earning a goal and an assist in the victory.
Utica's best scoring chance came with 15:21 left in the game.
Gustaf Petersen headed the ball towards the goal from right out in front, but Hobart goalie Tyler Serafine was there to make the stop. The Pioneers also earned two corners in the final minutes, but both attempts were cleared out by the Statesmen defense.
Hobart finished with a 19-3 advantage in shots and an 11-3 lead in corners.
David Abdou played all 90 minutes in goal for Utica and recorded six saves.
Hobart improves to 4-2-0, while the Pioneers fall to 2-2-2 this season. Senior goalie Mike Lucas (Fox Chapel Area/Pittsburgh, Pa.) played the opening 61:57 in goal for the Statesmen and stopped the only shot he faced. Junior Tyler Serafine (Canandaigua Academy/Canandaigua, N.Y.) came in for the final 28:03 and made two saves. It was the fourth shutout of the season for Hobart.