Ithaca Ties; Nazareth and Utica Blanked
ITHACA 2, Hobart 2
The Ithaca College men's soccer team scored late to force a tie with Hobart Tuesday evening, as the Bombers and Statesmen battled to a 2-2 draw at Cozzens Field. The tie pushes the Bombers' record to 1-5-2.
Sophomores
Sean Forward and
Cobi Byrne netted Ithaca's goals, while senior goalkeeper
Jordan Gentile stopped 3-of-5 Hobart shots. Ithaca dominated in shots, registering 21 total shots to Hobart's 14.
The Bombers struck first, netting a goal in the closing minutes of the opening half to take a 1-0 lead. Forward scored his second goal of the season in the 44th minute, converting on a shot to the upper right corner to put Ithaca ahead.
Hobart responded with two-straight goals in the second half. The Statesmen scored at 48:32 off a corner kick, before converting on a rebound in the 59th minute for the 2-1 advantage.
With just under two minutes remaining, Hobart was assessed a yellow card, giving Ithaca a direct free kick. Byrne took advantage of the opportunity, and scored his second goal of the year to send the game to overtime.
Neither team was able to score in the first seven minutes of overtime, before the game was called due to lightning and darkness.
Geneseo 3, NAZARETH 0
Nazareth fell to visiting Geneseo 3-0 in a men's non-conference soccer game on Tuesday afternoon. The Knights tallied all three of their goals in the opening half, and sophomore goalie
Nate Ripic made seven of his 12 saves in the second to prevent Geneseo from stretching its lead.
Following the loss, the Golden Flyers drop to 2-7 overall. With the victory, Geneseo improves to 5-4-1 overall.
The Knights' Kevin McGrath opened the scoring 4:13 into the contest with an unassisted goal. McGrath's initial shot was saved, but he scored on the rebound. Roughly 30 minutes later, Stanley Egbuchulam tallied his second goal of the season to give Geneseo a 2-0 advantage. Chris Kanaval sent a long pass to Egbuchulam, who drilled a left-footed shot into the lower corner of Nazareth's net.
Jason Falk scored the Knights' third goal 39 seconds before halftime as he chipped a shot over Ripic and into the goal. Walter Savidis was credited with an assist on the goal.
Junior
Clement Mutambo finished with a team-high three shots on goal for Nazareth. Senior
James Wheeler and sophomore
Dylan Toscano also each added one shot on goal. Logan Calvey made all five saves to earn the victory for Geneseo. The Knights finished the contest with an 18-9 advantage in total shots and a 6-3 advantage in corner kick chances.
Morrisville 2, UTICA 0
The Utica College men's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision at host Morrisville State in non-conference action on Tuesday afternoon. Morrisville, ranked 10
th in the region by the NSCAA, has now won five in a row and eight of its last nine contests.
The Pioneers, in the midst of a four game road trip, are now 4-4-2 overall. More importantly, they remain perched at 2-0 in Empire 8 Conference play headed into a key league match up in Hoboken, NJ against perennial power Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday (5 p.m.). The last time Stevens and Utica met was in the Empire 8 Championship game last Fall.
Jeffrey Hado scored for the Mustangs early on a one-timer, after a cross from Jamieson McKoy, in the 10
th minute of Tuesday night's game to give the home team an early 1-0 advantage. Alan Pechham accepted a crossing pass from McKoy early in the second half and scored to give the Mustangs (9-3, 5-1 NEAC) a 2-0 advantage.
Morrisville fended off six second half shots by the Pioneers to seal the shutout victory. Utica was outshot 16-7 on the evening.
Utica's
David Abdou tied his season-high with seven saves on the night, while Rob Larkin stopped five shots on net for the Mustangs to earn his second shutout of the season.