Box Score

Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Men's Soccer team was on fire early and held on to a three-goal halftime lead to stave off a Nazareth comeback attempt, winning 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Campus Field. The keeps the Soaring Eagles undefeated  at 7-0 overall and 2-0 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the No. 19 Golden Flyers to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in conference competition.

EC controlled possession and the scoring opportunities in the opening half holding a 7-1 shots on goal advantage. The Soaring Eagles got on the board in the 19th minute when Ryan Limero '14 took the ball up the left sideline and played a beautiful cross to Andre Germano '15. Germano brought the ball down and stroked a left-footed shot beating Nazareth keeper J.P Horan into the right corner of the net.

Less than four minutes later Limero proved to be the catalyst again as he lobbed a perfect pass up the left hand side to Ernesto Valverde '14 who beat Horan near post for a 2-0 lead. Brian Lowe '16 took the ball on a breakaway in the 33rd minute and nailed a shot just as a trailing defender came in for a slide tackle, beating the keeper into the left side netting to cushion the lead. The Purple and Gold took a 3-0 advantage into intermission.

Nazareth proved a tougher opponent in the second half as they picked up their intensity.
Despite the Golden Flyers outshooting EC 17-11 in the final 45 minutes, Nazareth only held an 8-7 shots on goal advantage. In the 77th minute the Golden Flyers finally broke through when Ryan Foley made a quick pass from center to left at the 18 yard mark. James Wheeler collected the pass firing a one-timer past EC keeper Jordan Dougherty '16. With six minutes remaining the officials whistled an Elmira defender for a foul in the box, resulting in a Naz penalty kick. Wheeler made the opportunity count, bringing the score within just one, at 3-2.

The Golden Flyers pushed trying to find a final equalizer late, but the Soaring Eagle defense held strong along with two key saves from Dougherty. The EC keeper finished with seven saves in the win, while Horan stopped 11 shots in the loss for Nazareth.

The Elmira College Men's Soccer team returns to action Tuesday when it travels to take on Wilkes University at 7:00 p.m.