ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's soccer team will look to open its season-long three-game homestand at Campus Field on a strong note on Saturday, October 14, when the Soaring Eagles host the first-place Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology. The feathered foes will kick-off the Empire 8 Conference bout at 3:00 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Soaring Eagles kept their Empire 8 Conference postseason hopes alive with an all-important 1-0 road victory over Utica on Saturday, October 7. Only 14 combined shots were taken during the entire 90-minute contest, with the Elmira men holding a slim 8-6 lead. Elmira's seventh of the contest would be the biggest one of the match, as senior
Donte Donegal '18 scored the game-winning goal in the 52nd minute of regulation on an easy finish from close range. Fellow classmate
Yaniv Kogan '18 was credited with an assist on the game-winner, a career first for the Modiin, Israel, native.
FIRST START, FIRST WIN
Elmira has employed the services of all three of its goalkeepers throughout the 2017 campaign. The latest goalie to see action for EC was
Jacob Mattice' 21, who made his first career appearance against No. 4 regionally-ranked Skidmore College by playing in the final 22:21 of the contest. Mattice made his first career start three days later against Utica and held the Pioneers scoreless through 90 minutes to earn his first collegiate win. Mattice became the first freshman to earn a shutout in his first collegiate start since 2012, when Kevin Huggins '16 did so in the season-opener.
POSTSEASON PICTURE
The 2017 playoff picture is a bit complicated at the moment, as nearly all eight teams remain in the hunt for a postseason bid. Elmira is tied for fourth place in the conference standings with Sage and St. John Fisher, both of whom EC will face in the next two weeks. A win or tie for the Soaring Eagles this afternoon could go a long way in solidifying a top-four spot in the league standings, especially with EC's win over second-place Nazareth, which could vault Elmira into the postseason with the E8's tiebreaker rules.
SERIES HISTORY
Elmira and Stevens have met 12 times in their respective histories, which includes a pair of postseason matchups. The Ducks hold a 10-1-1 lead in the all-time series and boast the most recent victory, a 5-0 win in 2016 on their home turf in Hoboken, New Jersey. Elmira's lone win in the series came in 2009, when the Purple and Gold downed the Ducks at Campus Field, 2-0.
SCOUTING THE DUCKS
Stevens Institute of Technology enters this afternoon's match with a 7-4-2 overall record and a 3-0-1 mark inside the Empire 8 Conference. The Ducks are unbeaten in their last four games (3-0-1), which includes a pair of two-goal wins within E8 play against Houghton and Sage. Most of Stevens' success has come at the DeBaun Athletic Complex, where the Ducks are 5-2-1. However, Stevens is just 2-2-1 in away matches this season and just 1-2-1 in its last four road games. Daniel Aversano paces the Stevens offense with nine points on a team-high four goals and one assist. Haddy Abdelhady and Andrew Masur have orchestrated the attack with three assists apiece. Defensively, Aaron Henry has been the go-to option between the posts and sports the conference's second-best goals-against average (0.98).
LOOKING AHEAD
Elmira continues its season-long three-game homestand on Tuesday, October 17, with a 3:00 p.m. non-league match against the Royals of the University of Scranton.
