The Ithaca College men’s soccer team fought and defeated the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles 3-1 in what sophomore Jack Carney said would be their toughest challenge yet.
In the first half, the Bombers struggled to make advancements offensively, while Golden Eagles’ junior forward Max Voyer scored within the first few minutes. The Golden Eagles had strong defense that kept their opponent working, rarely allowing the Bombers to gain possession or have an opportunity to score.
The score remained 1-0 until the 20-minute mark when Golden Eagles goalie Andrew Taylor unintentionally scored on his own goal because of a pass miscommunication from his team’s defense. Taylor’s goal led to a slight improvement in the South Hill Squad’s performance offensively. Taking a look at how the college played in the first half, Bombers’ assistant coach Nick Calo gave insight into the team’s strengths and weaknesses.
“I think we were just taking too many risks,” Calo said. “The chances we found and how we defended was amazing and I think our mistakes were probably the best attacking moments for the other team.”
Limiting mistakes for the rest of the game, the college ended up finding a chance to score in the last few moments of the first half. The Bombers took control of a ball in the air, made a few quick passes and junior forward Andrew Kusek shot the ball into the low right corner for a South Hill goal assisted by senior midfielder, Ikey Borden.
The second half is where things got interesting. Within the first eighteen minutes, three of the Golden Eagles’ players received cards — two yellow and one red. Senior forward Russ Domm received a red card after initiating an altercation and was removed for the duration of the game. The absence of the Golden Eagles’ forward on the field was evident as they only had four attempts on goal. When it came to the cards, Carney shared the team’s intentions.
“Keep our composure,” Carney said. “Let them get mad, keep getting in their heads. … Just capitalize on that.”
Sure enough, the Bombers did capitalize and took eleven shots on goal in the second half — seven more than they took in the first. The score remained 2-1 until senior midfielder Connor Tierney made a pass to junior midfielder Drew Warren, who successfully sent the final goal of the game to the top corner of the Golden Eagle’s net. Reflecting on the 3-1 win, Carney said the mentality of the South Hill Squad was crucial.
“We just kept doing our thing, playing soccer, playing Bomber ball,” Carney said. “When we’re playing our best, I don’t think anyone in the country can play with us.”
The Bombers head to Fredonia State University at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 14 to go head-to-head with the Devils in Fredonia, New York.
