Highlanders Win Home Opener

9/23/2014 10:04:00 PM

HOUGHTON 1, Pitt-Bradford 0
After playing the first seven games of the 2014 season on the road, the Houghton men's soccer team was ready to play 90 minutes in front of the home fans. And they gave the fans a 1-0 win over Pitt-Bradford.

The scoreboard wasn't an accurate reflection of the contest as the Highlanders dominated possession and controlled the pace of the game throughout. Houghton got off four shots in the first seven minutes and finally broke through when Jared Toth converted a pass from Kevin Miranda to put the Highlanders up 1-0. Miranda dropped a pass back to Toth in the box and the senior curled a 15 yard shot past the diving Panther keeper and into the right corner of the net.

Houghton had a 17-1 advantage in shots with eight on goal in the first 45 minutes.

The shots continued to come for the Highlanders after the break, but they couldn't find the net. Tyler Inch had one of the best opportunities late in the half when his 18 yard shot hit the crossbar. Toth and Mitch Beattie also had good scoring opportunities. The final second half stats showed Houghton with a 13-2 shots advantage, including another five on goal.

Jacob Dunnett  needed to make just one stop to get the shutout win.


Hamilton 2, UTICA 1 (OT)
The Utica College men's soccer team led 1-0 for the majority of the contest, until visiting Hamilton College scored on a penalty kick in the 81^st minute to send the game into overtime, and the Continentals added the game-winner 2:02 into the extra frame to earn the 2-1 victory at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium on Tuesday night.  Hamilton senior forward Dan Kraynak netted the penalty kick and also added the game-winner after streaking down the right side and receiving a perfect crossing pass from junior Erich Marcks to beat UC goalie David Abdou on the right. Kraynak now leads Hamilton with five goals this season.

The loss at home marked the first defeat of the year at Gaetano Stadium for the Pioneers.  Senior forward Shane Ruffing netted the game's opening goal for UC, his Empire 8 best eighth of the season, to put the home team on top 1-0 in the 28^th minute.  Sophomore defender Evan Bailey connected with Ruffing on a 40-yard pass to set up the Pioneers' only score of the game.

Utica's record moved to 3-3-2 overall, while Hamilton  has now won three of its last four games and improved to 4-1-1 headed into a key NESCAC Conference game at Wesleyan on Saturday (1:30 p.m.).

Senior goalie David Abdou made several great saves early in the second half to preserve the Pioneer lead, but Hamilton's pressure proved to be too much in the end.  Abdou finished the night with seven saves for Utica. 

Hamilton goalie Harris Pollack fended off six Pioneer shots in net for the Continentals.

Hamilton earned  a 22-10 shot advantage on the afternoon and also secured seven corner kicks compared to the Pioneers' five. 

Ruffing, who entered the night ranked 12^th nationally with an average of 1.0 goals per game, currently sits in fourth on the College's all-time goal scoring list with 19 over the course of 49 career games. He also ranks fifth all-time at UC with 43 career points (19 goals, five assists).


Lycoming 5, ELMIRA 0
The Elmira College men's soccer team fell to visiting Lycoming College, 5-0, Tuesday afternoon. Austin Mansell '16 and Jordan Dougherty '16 split time in net today, making a combined 17 saves in the loss.
 
EC started out strong against the Warriors, nearly becoming just the second team all season to put home a goal against Lycoming. That opportunity came in the 23rd minute of the game off the left foot of Ronaldo Charlton '18 after a nice pass was played into the box. Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, his shot missed just wide of the left post, keeping the score at 0-0.
 
The Warriors regrouped after the near-miss and went on the attack, netting their first goal just four minutes later. Lycoming would add a second goal in the 33rd minute to go up 2-0 and looked to add more on the scoreboard, but Mansell came up with a handful of acrobatic saves to keep the deficit at two. EC would go into the halftime break trailing by the 2-0 score.
 
Elmira made the switch to Dougherty in net and put Mansell in the field with the hope of climbing back into the game. Lycoming, however, would not allow that to happen as they continued to apply offensive pressure throughout the second half. The Warriors scored in the 53rd, 67th, and 70th minutes to make it a 5-0 game, a score line that would hold until the final horn.


Rochester 5, ST. JOHN FISHER 0
The St. John Fisher College men's soccer team saw No. 15 University of Rochester erupt for four goals in the second half en route to a 5-0 victory over the host Cardinals Tuesday at Growney Stadium.

With the loss Fisher falls to 2-6-1 overall while Rochester improves to 5-1-2 on the year.

Fisher had a quality scoring chance within the first five minutes of the game as an errant back pass for the Yellowjackets found the foot of Chris Ferrara just ahead of the defender.  The senior forward raced in on goal, taking a shot from just outside the 18-yard box which was saved by the goalkeeper.

Although Fisher had several opportunities to start the game it was Rochester that would strike first in the 15^th minute on a header into the upper corner.

The Cardinals nearly broke through with under five minutes to play in the half as Zach Hammond sent a pass from the end line back to Phillip Brogan who saw his one-time shot pushed aside.
Rochester led 1-0 at the half.

The visitors doubled their lead early in the second half as Alex Swanger put home a header off a corner kick.

Fisher continued to pressure, nearly ending its scoring drought in the 59^th minute as Brendan Hughes connected on a beautiful through ball behind the defense with Bryan Rollins, however the Rochester goalie was up for the task again.

The score would remain 3-0 until the 77^th minute when Tyler Buck scored back-to-back goals in a :29 second span to give the Yellowjackets a 4-0 lead.

Rochester scored another goal late in the game to round out the scoring.

Josh Klein notched eight saves in net for the Cardinals.
 

Scranton 3, ITHACA 1
The Ithaca College men's soccer team (1-4-1) lost a midweek tilt with Scranton Tuesday evening, falling to the Royals by a score of 3-1 at Carp Wood Field.

Sophomore Cobi Byrne scored Ithaca's goal, while senior goalkeeper Jordan Gentile made four saves on seven Scranton shots. Both teams recorded nine shots, with five Ithaca shots going on goal to Scranton's seven.

The Royals got on the board first, netting a goal in the 21st minute on a partial breakaway to go up, 1-0.

Ithaca responded just under five minutes later to even the contest at 1-1. Sophomore Sam Boylan carried the ball down the near side of the goal line, eventually sending a pass back against the defense towards the top of the box. Boylan's pass found Byrne, who fired a shot past the Scranton keeper for his first goal as a Bomber.

The Royals scored their second of the opening frame in the 31st minute, giving Scranton the 2-1 advantage at the half.

Scranton opened the scoring in the second frame, as the Royals added an insurance marker at 61:50 to go up, 3-1. Ithaca battled in the final 20 minutes, but was unable to score again on the Scranton goalkeeper.