Score: Nazareth College 1, Elmira College 0
Records: Elmira (1-7-0, 0-2-0 E8), Nazareth (5-2-1, 1-0-1 E8)
Location: Campus Field -- Elmira, N.Y.

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's soccer team dropped a hard-fought Empire 8 Conference battle against the visiting Golden Flyers of Nazareth College by a narrow 1-0 margin at Campus Field Saturday afternoon.

Following a feisty first half, which ended in a 0-0 tie, the action quickly picked up in the second stanza. The Golden Flyer offense produced a handful of chances in the opening minutes of the second half, including a header from Sam Smyth that sailed wide of the goal. Naz, which held a 14-to-5 advantage in shots, finally broke through for the game's lone tally in the 50th minute, as a give-and-go between Smyth and Jake Adams resulted in a strike from that beat a diving Giovanni Garufi '22 to the right side of the goal.

The Soaring Eagles frantically searched for an equalizer in the remaining minutes. Several scoring opportunities came off of set pieces, with the chippy game producing multiple fouls on both sides of the ball. One such play came on the restart following a yellow card that was dealt to Adams in the 64th minute. Colin Morrison '19 booted the free kick from just inside the midfield stripe into the box, and although a Soaring Eagle was brought down on the play, no foul was assessed and Nazareth's goalie, Brian Wilkin, was able to collect the ball out of the air.

A similar play occurred in the 80th minute. Morrison hurled another free kick from midfield, but no shot was recorded while several players fell to the turf. In the 82nd minute, Mark Brado Jr. '22 released a right-footed shot that Wilkin had to gather on a bounce, but Haden Smith '22 had one of Elmira's best looks in the 86th minute. After a Naz defender dove to deflect a ball inside the box, Smith found himself unmarked, but as Wilkin charged out of the goal, the freshman defender from Pinehurst, North Carolina, pushed the ball just over the crossbar.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Kevin Brenner on Saturday's close call against Nazareth…
"Given the difficult playing conditions today, I thought the team performed exceptionally well. I thought we deserved at least a draw. We were unfortunate not to receive some calls in the box which would have changed the game."

News and Notes

• The Purple and Gold fell to 1-7-0 overall and 0-2-0 in Empire 8 play.
• The loss is Elmira's third one-goal setback of the 2018 fall season.
• Seniors John Broyles '19 and Andrew Spitznogle '19 made their first starts of the season.
• Garufi made his seventh start of his debut season in goal and logged three saves.
• The Soaring Eagles sported rainbow-colored shoelaces on the field, as part of United Soccer Coaches' Play with Pride initiative.

Up Next
Elmira returns to the grassy pitch at Campus Field for a non-conference game against SUNY Delhi on Wednesday, September 26, at 4:00 p.m.