ALFRED, NY—The AU men's soccer team blanked the Elmira College Soaring Eagles, 2-0, en route to their third E8 victory on the season.
It was all Saxons during the 2014 Homecoming as the Saxons put seven shots on goal, and holding Elmira to none. The first goal for the Saxons came in the 21
st minute when
Ivan Capitan-Carro (Baynot, Spain) broke away from the defense and wrapped the ball around the keeper to take the lead, 1-0.
The Saxons continued to threaten the rest of the half, putting two more shots on goal. However, the Saxons were unable to increase the lead before the half.
In the second period the Saxons came out ready to continue their dominance. From the 61
st to the 63
rd minute the Saxons barraged the Elmira keeper with shots, but were unable to break the plane for the goal. The most promising attempt came off a corner by
Graeme Corrigan (Troy, NY/Troy) who found senior
Jeff Thomas (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) streaking into the box and flicked a hard header directly at the keeper who parried the ball away. Thomas would threaten again in the 63
rd minute from nearly 30 yards out but the ball went just over the cross bar.
Finally, Thomas got his break and his persistence paid off in the 69
th minute when he received a throw in from
Oumar Soumahoro (New York, NY/Martin Luther King) in the box and turned hard on the ball to rip a shot over the keepers head, giving AU the insurance goal, 2-0.
Richard Lander (Narrowsburg, NY/Sullivan West) looked to increase the lead with approximately 14 minutes to go when the ball popped into open space about 40 yards out and he charged on the ball to crush an immaculate shot off the cross bar and out of play. As the final horn sounded, the Saxons were the victors, 2-0.
In the goal for the Saxons was freshman
Chris Gutierrez (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) who faced no shots on goal, and therefore had no saves over the 90 minute game.
The Saxons (7-5-2 Empire 8 3-1-1) are in action again on the road October 25
th when they travel to New Jersey to take on Stevens Tech.
