ALFRED, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's soccer program recorded its second straight Empire 8 Conference victory as the Soaring Eagles earned a 2-0 decision against Alfred on Wednesday afternoon at Yunevich Stadium.
Gavin Wise '22 and
Lutho Mlunguza '23 provided the goals in the contest as the Purple & Gold improved to 3-1-1 over their last five matches.
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 2, Alfred 0
LOCATION: Alfred, N.Y. | Yunevich Stadium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (8-3-2, 2-2-0 E8), Alfred (3-6-3, 1-3-2 E8)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Alfred would bring an offensive barrage of shots in the opening five minutes of the contest with a pair going just wide of the cage before the Elmira defense would block a shot at the 2:29 mark of the first half. Elmira Goalkeeper
Zachary Raffino '23 would turn away three shots to keep the game scoreless midway through the half as the Saxons tallied each of the first 10 shots in the contest.
The Soaring Eagles would get their first scoring opportunity in the 28th minute as Wise took a shot on frame that would be denied by Alfred. Wise would get another chance in the closing seconds of the half as he had a shot turned away with 15 seconds left on the clock.
Elmira flipped the script to open the second half as the Soaring Eagles were awarded a corner kick at the 50:15 mark and would set up a shot from Mlunguza that would be denied by the Alfred goalkeeper. Just over five minutes later, Elmira would be awarded another corner and would see
Nicholas Zanger '22 get a header on the ball into the box. A collision between Zanger and the goalkeeper would result in a yellow card for Alfred and a penalty kick for Elmira. Wise would take the penalty kick and convert for his fourth goal of the season and eventually his fourth game-winning goal for the Purple & Gold.
Mlunguza would add to Elmira's lead in the 81st minute of action as he would find the back of the net after taking a ball from
Moustapha Camara '23 to make it 2-0. The goal marked Mlunguza's seventh of the season, while Camara notched his second assist of the season for the Soaring Eagles. The Soaring Eagles locked things down defensively in the second half as they held a 9-0 margin in shots and finished with a 7-4 edge in shots on goal.
Wise paced Elmira with three shots on goal in the match, while Mlunguza added a pair on frame. Raffino finished with four saves in cage for the Purple & Gold while notching his seventh shutout this season for Elmira.
UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold return to action on October 15 as they host Utica University for an Empire 8 matchup at Campus Field beginning at 2:00 P.M.
