UTICA, NY - The Alfred University's Men's Soccer team came out of Utica University with a big 4-1 win on Saturday afternoon.

"It was a great win against a team right with us in the league," Head Coach Tracy Blake said. "Our work this week on tactical implementation was shown by the team. We've got work to do for our next game versus Brockport on Wednesday."

Despite the scoreline, it took until the second half for all the goals to find the back of the net for both sides. The Pioneers would put seven shots on the Saxons net in the first 45 minutes, with Tyler Mulholland (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) making four saves. His biggest one came in the dying moments of the half, stopping a one-on-one chance through on goal. His teammates would also have four shots on net at the other end, and were knocking on the door to break through.

Eventually, they would break through just moments into the second half. Juan Jose Menendez Gutierrez (Villanueva Cañada, Madrid, Spain/Woodstock Academy) opened the scoring just two minutes into the half, dribbling through a few Utica defenders and slotting it home into the bottom corner. Just 58 seconds later, Christian Moon (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa) pounced on a mistake by some Pioneers defenders and loop a volley outside of the box over the netminder and in to double the advantage.

Utica's lone goal came just two minutes after, managing to squeeze through traffic off a corner kick to find the twine. Three goals combined in three minutes made it seem as though it would be a dramatic end to this one. Moon got his second of the game, again pouncing on a loose ball after a save in the six-yard box to force it into the net in the 66th minute. Finally, in the 77th minute Alfred University put the game to bed with Niko Lampros (Lake Oswego, OR/Lakeridge) scoring his first collegiate goal at the back post after a nice long cross from Noam Sokolovsky (East Lyme, CT/East Lyme). AU was clinical in front of the net, with eight of its nine shots in the match on target.

The Saxons move to 5-6-2 overall and 3-2-2 in the Empire 8 Conference with four games to go in the regular season. Next up is SUNY Brockport back on home turf on Wednesday, October 16 at 4:00 pm.