WESTMINSTER, PA – The Alfred University men's soccer team opened their 2016 campaign with a 2-0 win over Penn State Altoona on Friday evening during the Wesminster College Tournament.
 
The win was the first season-opening win for AU since 2011's 1-0 win over The College at Old Westbury. That win was exactly five years ago on Friday, September 2, 2011.
 
Both of the Saxons' (1-0, 0-0 Empire 8) goals came from their seniors, Oumar Soumahoro (New York, NY/Martin Luther King) and Richard Lander (Narrowsburg, NY/Sullivan West) with scores in both halves.
 
Soumahoro's goal came off of a header he had in the first half to give Alfred University a 1-0 lead going into the break off of an assist from sophomore Brennan Jelstrom (Loudonville, NY/Shaker). Lander's occurred just under four minutes into the start of the second 45 with Soumahoro assisting on the play.
 
Junior keeper Chris Gutierrez (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) made two saves on the night in his first shutout of the 2016 season.
 
The Saxons had more offensive opportunities on the evening, out-shooting Altoona 18-7 (7-2 on goal). Alfred University had four corner kicks in each half as Penn State was awarded only three in total, all in the second half. Penn State Altoona committed 21 fouls in the game while the Saxons kept their total to only 14.
 
Altoona had five yellow cards on the evening with one player earning a red card on top of his yellow.
 
The Saxons were not called offsides throughout the entire 90 minutes.
 
The Saxons will next take on the host institution, Westminster College, on Saturday at 2:30 pm.