ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College men's soccer team battled the visiting Golden Flyers from Nazareth College to a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon, with Alessandro Lancia '26 netting the equalizer in the 12^th minute of play after Kerfalla Toure '26 passed a ball the length of the field to the freshman who worked around the defender and goalkeeper who challenged, eventually finding the back of the net.
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 1, Nazareth 1
LOCATION: Elmira, NY | Campus Field
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (9-4-3, 3-3-1 E8), Nazareth (7-4-4, 2-2-4 E8)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
It took the Golden Flyers little time to break the 0-0 tie as Jake Pawlika worked his way around the Elmira defense to score an unassisted goal and give the visitors and early 1-0 lead.
 
From there, Elmira would answer right back with a score of its own as Toure passed the ball the length of the field to Lancia, who worked around the defender and goalkeeper who challenged, eventually finding the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The game would take a 1-1 tie into the break, as that would conclude the offense for the contest. In the opening half, the Golden Flyers would outshoot the Soaring Eagles 7-5, including a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal. Zachary Raffino '23 made three first half saves for the Soaring Eagles, and would finish the contest with seven.
 
The second half played physical both ways, as the Golden Flyers matched its shot total from the first half, while Elmira was able to put up just two shots, including one on net. Elmira escaped trouble on two different occasions as Nazareth hit the goalpost.


UP NEXT:
The Purple & Gold return to the pitch on Wednesday afternoon when heading to visit the Highlanders from Houghton University. Kickoff is set for 5:00 PM on the campus of Houghton.