Score: The College at Brockport 1, Elmira College 0
Records: Brockport (4-2-1), Elmira (1-6-1)
Location: Campus Field – Elmira, N.Y.
 
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's soccer team played the College at Brockport even through the majority of today's non-conference match, until Chris Aherne cashed in on corner kick in the 83rd minute to lift the Golden Eagles past the Purple and Gold, 1-0.
 
After a scoreless first half that saw Brockport outshoot Elmira, 9-3, the Golden Eagles searched frantically for a game-winner in the final 45 minutes. It looked as though Connor DeSantis was going to play the hero in the 53rd minute, but his strike from 30 yards out rattled off the crossbar and out of bounds.
 
Fast-forward to the 79th minute of action, when Elmira put a bit of pressure on the Brockport back line with a pair of shot attempts from 18 yards out. Senior Brendan Wise '18 leaned into a shot from the top of the box, but a Brockport defender was there to block it at 78:31. Seven seconds later, Tony Barraco '18 collected the rebound and tried to bend one into the far right post. However, his attempt missed its mark, keeping the game tied at 0-0.
 
Following EC's attempts, Brockport made a pair of substitutions, as Dylan Serfis and Cameron Beale entered the contest at 79:29, which was followed by Aherne subbing into the contest at the 81:32 mark. Those subs would pay off for the Golden Eagles, who saw Beale deliver a perfectly placed cross on a corner kick to Aherne, who charged through a sea of green and gold jerseys to bury a header into the back of the net for the eventual game-winning goal at the 82:30 mark.
 
Elmira's best scoring chance of the game took place in the opening minutes of the contest. A nice combination passing play right up the spine of Brockport's defense created space for Josh Broyles '21 to curl the ball towards the goal. Broyles' one-time effort from 20 yards out looked as though it had enough spin to dip into the far corner, but the ball descended too late and grazed over the crossbar.
 
The attempt from Broyles was the first of seven shots taken by the Soaring Eagles this evening, although only one of those tries made its way on goal. Brockport finished with 18 shots and only four of those attempts found their mark. Additionally, Brockport held 5-4 advantage in corner kick chances, even though EC entered the halftime break with a slim 3-2 edge in that category.
 
EC netminder Jacob Liese '20 made his second consecutive start and turned away three shots in 90 minutes of work. His counterpart from Brockport, Kyle McCane, made one save as he collected his first win of the 2017 campaign.
 
In His Own Words…
Head Coach Kevin Brenner shares his thoughts on Elmira's efforts this afternoon…
"I thought the players were fantastic today. The effort and desire was there. Credit to a good Brockport team, who are very persistent in the final third, but I thought we were solid in the back for the majority of the game. I thought we were a bit unlucky to concede the goal from a corner kick, as I thought the players deserved at least a draw today. We now turn our focus to Saturday's big away match at Nazareth College."
 
News and Notes

• Today's contest was the first meeting between Brockport and Elmira since the 2005 season.
• Elmira dropped its second straight one-goal game at Campus Field.
• EC held Brockport to a season-low shot-on-goal percentage of .222.
• The four shots on goal allowed by EC is a season low.

 
Up Next
Elmira returns to action this Saturday, September 23, as the Soaring Eagles travel to take on the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College. The Empire 8 Conference contest is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Nazareth's Golden Flyer Stadium.