The Ithaca College men’s soccer team defeated Hamilton College 3–2 Sept. 11. This was the Bombers’ third overtime match of the season so far.
In the early stages of the match neither team successfully kept possession of the ball. Both the Bombers and Continentals struggled to have any time on the offensive, exchanging the ball at the midfield, while the goalkeepers on both sides were kept quiet. Toward the end of the first half, Hamilton took control of the ball, and Continentals freshman forward Sam Dils scored off the assist of Continentals freshman midfielder Roth Wetzel, ending the half with Hamilton in the lead 1–0.
In the second half, the Bombers wasted little time in responding to Hamilton’s first goal, with a goal of their own from freshman midfielder Kyle Sicke, with a header off of a cross from near midfield, in the 62nd minute to tie the game 1–1.
With little time for the Continentals to flip the momentum, the South Hill squad scored only eight minutes later with a strike from sophomore striker John Kyriakidis, his second goal of the season. This gave the Bombers a 2–1 lead, and was off of a header assist from senior striker Nate Mansfield, who seemed unphased from his yellow card given to him only minutes before.
At this moment, the Bombers cooled off offensively, as Hamilton kept possession for the remainder of the half. Although the Bombers were stellar defensively, they could not seem to move onto the offensive. The inability to move the ball back onto the Continentals’ side of the field led to a goal by Hamilton senior forward Matt Casadei, with only five minutes left in regulation. This tied the match 2–2, forcing the fate of the match to be decided in overtime.
As overtime began, it also ended soon after. In the 2nd minute of the period, the Bombers had two corner kicks with a golden Bombers goal off the second one. The corner was an assist from freshman defense Thomas Pierce to a header goal by senior striker Nate Mansfield, his second of the season. This gave the Bombers a 3–2 victory, extending their winning record to 4–0–1.
The Blue and Gold are back in action at 3 p.m. Sept. 15 at Carp Wood Field against The College at Brockport.
