ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University men's soccer team put together a strong second half that secured its non-conference, 4-0 win over visiting Pitt.- Bradford on Wednesday evening at Yunevich Stadium.
 
Junior Brian Larkin-Gero (Chagrin Falls, OH/Kenston) picked up his first win in goal of the season as well as his second collegiate shutout having made one save on the day. The Saxons' (2-4-0, 1-0-0 Empire 8) other save was made by first-year Cameron Metarko (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) off a corner kick attempt by the Panthers (1-6-1, 0-0-0 AMCC).
 
The Saxons first got on the board in the fifth minute of play as senior Jesse Lichtman (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) tossed in a rocket, aimed in the center area of the net where fellow senior, Sam Craver (Great Falls, VA/The Field School) chested the ball into the net. The rest of the first half would go scoreless with only a handful of offensive opportunities from both sides.

"I thought we came out a little slow in the first half. We weren't gelling as a team in the first half," AU head coach Tracy Blake said. "Then we had a talk about it at halftime and the boys were really upset with how they were playing in the first half and they decided they wanted to increase their passion and desire to play better and it showed on the scoreboard."
 
Lichtman opened the flood gates for the Saxons in the second half when he rifled a shot from 35 yards out that went top left corner, just out of the reach of the Pitt keeper. His goal occurred in the 51^st minute and was quickly followed by the Saxons' third and fourth goals of the contest.
 
In the 54^th minute of play, junior Brennan Jelstrom (Loudonville, NY/Shaker) sent a long pass from about 50 yards out to the back line where senior Cody Cronmiller (Livonia, NY/Livonia) headed it, and tucked it away for the 3-0 lead. Just four minutes later, junior Adam Taylor (Newton, NJ/Sussex County Technical) got his first goal of the season when sophomore Austin Spina (Bradford, NY/Bradford Central) redirected a long pass his way, Taylor took a couple of steps towards the goal, shot and scored top-shelf for the final goal of the day.
 
Nearly every member of the Saxon men's soccer team got on the field at some point on Wednesday evening.
 
Alfred University held the advantage in shots (22-7), shots on goal (12-2) corner kicks (9-3) and committed less fouls (10-12). Pitt's Derrick Brock played all 90 minutes in goal with eight saves as he picked up the loss.
 
The Saxons will next host Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday, September 23 at 5pm. Saturday is Alfred University's Homecoming Weekend with the Hall of Fame inductions to happen at 5:30 pm in Powell Campus Center where men's soccer alumnus Bobby Linaberry '07 will be inducted into the Alfred University Athletics Hall of Fame. Saturday's matchup is also the men's soccer Saxon-for-Saxon game.