ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Tommaso Garavaglia '23 netted his first career goal in the 37th minute of Saturday's Empire 8 Conference bout against Alfred University to lift the Elmira College men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory at Campus Field.

With the win, the Soaring Eagles improve to 8-3-2 overall and remain in the driver's seat for an E8 Tournament berth with a 2-1-1 conference record. Alfred dropped to 4-10-0 and is still searching for an elusive Empire 8 win at 0-3-0.

Garavaglia, a 6-foot-1-inch center back from Milan, Italy, was able to get his head on a corner kick from Jake Meyer '21 and pushed the ball into the back of the net for the game's only tally.

In what turned out to be a chippy second half, Donovan Sewell '23 found himself in prime position to double the advantage in the 62nd minute. Following a turnover forced near midfield by Junior Coulibaly '21, Lutho Mlunguza '23 passed the ball to Sewell with one touch down the left side. After juking out on defenseman, a second Alfred defender closed in quick enough to deflect Sewell's close-range attempt through the end line. A few minutes later, Mlunguza collected another turnover in the attacking zone and took a rip from about 28 yards out, but his shot missed the left post by a couple of inches.

EC goalie Xavier Townsend '23 made the second of his two saves in the 88th minute to preserve the clean sheet. A long throw-in from the left side was headed towards the near post by Saif Alseyofi, but the Queensland, Australia, native leapt to his right to nullify Alfred's scoring opportunity. The Saxons had one additional chance in the final 15 seconds of regulation, but Mason Sanborn's shot following a corner entry flew wide of its target.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Kevin Brenner when asked about Saturday's one-goal win…
"We found a way to win today in a game that was rough, tough, and a battle from start to finish. I thought we had chances to kill the game off by making it 2-0, but credit to Alfred for bending and not breaking. There is no easy game in the Empire 8, but we took a big step forward in getting all three points which could prove vital down the road."

News and Notes

• Elmira moved into a two-way tie with Utica, which kicks off on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. against Nazareth, for first in the Empire 8 with seven points.
• The win is EC's first against Alfred since 2013.
• At Campus Field this season, EC improved to 4-2-2.
• The Soaring Eagles are 4-2-0 in one-goal games this fall.
• Garavaglia posted his first collegiate goal, becoming the ninth different Soaring Eagle to score in 2019.
• Meyer's assist was his third of the season.
• Townsend recorded his fifth shutout of the year and is now 7-2-1 in goal.
• Midfielder Ali Rodriguez '23 made his second start of the season and played all 90 minutes for the first time as a freshman.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will travel to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for a non-league tilt against the Pennsylvania College of Technology on Wednesday, October 16, at 7:00 p.m.