ELMIRA, N.Y. –  In an instant classic, the Elmira College Soaring Eagles men's soccer team opened their home schedule with a thrilling, physical 3-3 draw with the Susquehanna River Hawks. In front of a rowdy home crowd, Elmira set a season-high for goals in a game and was backed by a terrific effort in net from Daniel Gonzalez '27.

JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 3, Susquehanna 3
LOCATION: Elmia, New York | Campus Field
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (0-4-2, 0-1-0 Empire 8), Susquehanna University (4-1-1, 0-0-0 Landmark)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The River Hawks opened the scoring in the 19th minute after a Gonzalez save bounced right to Josh Higgins, who capitalized on the opportunity. Elmira's Mohamed Koroma '25 was fouled in the penalty area just under 10 minutes later and fired a missile by the Hawks keeper, marking the first-ever goal for Elmira men's soccer on the new turf field.

At the 44-minute mark, Miguel Robiou '27 gave the Soaring Eagles a 2-1 lead heading into the locker room. Adam Tufton '28 picked up his first career assist on Robiou's first collegiate tally.

The Hawks' answer came quickly into the second half as Daniel Hartzell tied the game in the 54th minute.

Only a minute later, Konstantinos Triantafillou '27 put the Soaring Eagles back ahead 3-2, thanks to a fortunate pass from Pietro Gallina '26.

Following a brief interruption for a pair of Hawks' red cards in the 59th minute, the Hawks scored the game-tying goal in the 63rd minute.

Gonzalez was strong in net for Elmira, finishing with seven saves on ten shots. Two of his first-half saves came on penalty kicks, giving his team the momentum it needed to go down the other end and score.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles will head to Utica for a match against the Wildcats of SUNY Poly on Saturday, September 21 at 12:00 PM. Elmira owns a 5-2 edge over the Wildcats all time but the programs have not met since 2014.