Men's Soccer | 11/11/2023 9:22:00 PM
MONTCLAIR, NJ – Elmira made the trip to New Jersey for the first round of the NCAA Tournament after securing its first Empire 8 title in program history. After going down early, Elmira kept fighting to net the equalizer. However, despite recording five shots on goal, the Soaring Eagles were kept out of the back of the net. After a late penalty conversion by the Red Hawks, Elmira's season ended in a 2-0 defeat on Saturday evening.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 0, Montclair State 2
LOCATION: Montclair, N.J. | MSU Soccer Park
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (7-7-5, 5-0-3 E8), St. John Fisher (18-2-1, 9-0-0 NJAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Red Hawks found the opener in the 13th minute of the match when top goalscorer Amer Lukovic powered his way past Elmira's defense and into the penalty box before sending a strike past Juan Carlos Cruz Gandia '27 from close distance.
- Elmira got its first shot on goal in the 16th minute after a Martin Harguindey '26 run into the final third drew a foul, giving Elmira a free kick in a promising position. Jose Navea Corporan '27 took the free kick for the Soaring Eagles, and his delivery cleared the Red Hawks' wall, but the goalkeeper collected the effort.
- The Soaring Eagles got another shot at goal in the 22nd minute on a long-range effort from Jhoan Chavez '26, which was blocked before it could test the Montclair State goalkeeper. Elmira had another chance a minute later when Corporan received the ball at the edge of the penalty area and produced a nice move to cut inside before pulling his shot wide.
- In the 39th minute, Elmira nearly found the equalizer on a Harguindey shot where he was able to control the ball at the top of the box and put a dangerous effort on target, forcing the diving save from Montclair State's goalkeeper.
- That was Elmira's last true sight at goal of the half, and it entered the break trailing 1-0.
- Elmira started the second half with another Harguindey effort after a give-and-go between the sophomore forward and Ashraf Bonseu '25. Harguindey got his shot off, but it was blocked before it could trouble the keeper and bounced right into his hands.
- Perhaps Elmira's best chance to get back into the match came in the 56th minute when Corporan collected a loose ball at the top of the box and shot it on the bounce. His effort bounced to Alessandro Lancia '26, who got a touch on the ball before it rebounded to him off a Red Hawk defender. Lancia then tried powering it into the bottom-right corner of the goal from close range, but a sliding Montclair State defender blocked the shot, and it flew over the top of the goal for an Elmira corner.
- Lancia registered another shot on goal for the Soaring Eagles in the 68th minute on a counter-attack by Elmira. Bonseu played it into Lancia at the top of the 18-yard box, who gathered the ball, cut inside on his left foot, and let it fly from distance, but the Red Hawks goalkeeper collected the effort.
- Elmira found itself in danger of going down 2-0 in the 76th minute after Montclair State won a penalty. The Red Hawks converted the penalty and put Elmira down 2-0 with just under 15 minutes left to play.
- Despite a shot by Daniel Mercedes '27, Elmira could not find a goal of its own, and its season ended in a 2-0 defeat in the NCAA Tournament First Round.
- Elmira registered five shots on goal to six for the Red Hawks. Harguindey led the way with two shots on goal for the Soaring Eagles.
- Goalkeeper Cruz Gandia made four saves in the match.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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