No. 1 Messiah 3, Misericordia 0
GRANTHAM, Pa. -- Just four days after losing for the first time in 2013, Messiah bounced back in convincing fashion with a 3-0 shutout of Misericordia. The Falcons scored twice in the first-half and once afterward in support of another strong defensive effort.
The shutout—Messiah's third of the season—nearly ended in just the third minute as a shot from Nick vonEgypt went barely high of the crossbar. Though a dangerous attempt, it accounted for half of the Cougars' first-half shots as the Falcons quickly settled in and started to hold territory.
The Falcons' possession in their attacking third slowly exhausted their visitors, and finally broke through for a score in the 20th minute. Joshua Wood would do the honors for the Falcons, with his shot coming off a perfectly slotted pass from Jack Thompason on the right wing. Wood managed to keep his defender on his back on his run to the right side of the box as keeper Barry Fitzgerald raced off his line in an attempt to beat Wood to the ball. Wood barely beat Fitzgerald in time for a quick, twisting strike that went on the ground and over the goal line.
No. 2 Ohio Wesleyan 2, Wooster 1
Sophomore midfielder Brian Schaefer scored with just under 12 minutes left in regulation time to lift second-ranked Ohio Wesleyan past Wooster in the North Coast Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Saturday at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex.
Sophomore forward Evan Lee came close to putting the Bishops on the scoreboard early, but his shot hit the crossbar in the 17th minute. The Bishops had another good opportunity in the 31st minute after earning a corner kick, but a header by junior midfielder Colton Bloecher hit the crossbar, and senior midfielder Jon Stegner saw his follow-up header saved by Wooster keeper Matthew Canter.
Junior Colin Beemiller had two saves for Ohio Wesleyan. Canter recorded 3 saves during the first half and Aaron McKee made three saves during the second half for Wooster.
No. 3 Rutgers-Camden 2, Kean 1
HILLSIDE, N.J. -- Mike Ryan has been a difference-maker throughout his brief Rutgers-Camden career, and the sophomore All-American worked his goal-scoring magic again Saturday afternoon.
Ryan scored both Scarlet Raptor goals, including the game winner with 15:39 remaining, to lead nationally-ranked Rutgers-Camden ahead of 2-1 in a physical New Jersey Athletic Conference game that featured seven yellow cards and 26 fouls.
The win helped the Scarlet Raptors stretch their unbeaten streak to 23 games in two years (20-0-3), tying for 19th place on the NCAA Division III charts with Williams (1987-88) and Ohio Wesleyan (Sept. 1-Nov. 18, 2000).
The Scarlet Raptors, who are ranked No. 3, improve to 11-0 overall, extending their school records for winning streaks and perfect starts to a season. The two-time defending NJAC champions also improve to 3-0 in conference play.
No. 4 Amherst 3, No. 23 Tufts 0
AMHERST, Mass. -– Fourth-ranked Amherst extended its unbeaten streak to 27 games Saturday following a 2-0 win against 23rd-ranked Tufts at Hitchcock Field. With the win, Amherst improved to 6-0-1 overall and 4-0-1 in the NESCAC, while Tufts fell to 4-2-2 on the season and 2-2 in league play.
The first strong scoring chance for either team came at the eighth minute when Justin Aoyama got around Jumbo defenders and found Greg Singer for a header that went high. A few minutes later, Singer had another opportunity on net when he took a Jeffs' penalty kick. However, his attempt was blocked by Scott Greenwood and bounced out to Nico Pascual-Leone, who then missed an open net wide right.
Tufts put together a nice attempt at the 27th minute when Tal Smith's shot was blocked and rebounded to Jason Kayne. Kayne received the ball in the box but missed wide right on his opportunity as the score remained tied at 0-0.
Later in the half, a series of opportunities arose for Amherst as they maintained possession directly in front of the net. Gabriel Wirz eventually lofted one over the goalies outstretched arms into the top right corner of the night, putting the Jeffs ahead 1-0 at the 33rd minute.
Amherst fell short of increasing its lead just six minutes later as Pascual-Leone found Christopher Martin on a great cross to the left side of the field. Martin received the pass but missed his shot wide left. Entering the break, Amherst led 8-4 in shots and 4-2 in corner kicks with a 1-0 goal advantage.
Kento Nakamura registered the first scoring opportunity of the second half with a direct shot into the hands of Thomas Bull at the 48th minute. Three minutes later, Justin Aoyama found Greg Singer on the right side and sent one to the top left corner for the Jeffs’ second goal.
Tufts had an opportunity to cut the deficit to one just a minute following Singer’s score but came away with nothing when Kayne’s attempt was blocked and Kyle Volpe’s shot went high.
Amherst is unbeaten in the last eight meetings against its NESCAC opponent and has outscored the Jumbos 19-1 in that span.
No. 6 Pacific Lutheran 0, Linfield 0
PARKLAND – With a torrential rainstorm dictating the play on both sides, sixth-ranked Pacific Lutheran played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer to claim the double-overtime 0-0 draw against Linfield Saturday afternoon.
Pacific Lutheran extends its unbeaten streak to open the season to nine matches, as the Lutes' record goes to 7-0-2 overall and 2-0-1 in conference play. Linfield goes to 3-3-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the NWC.
The Lutes finished the match with a 19-to-13 shot advantage, including 10-to-6 in the second half, but none of PLU's shot attempts found its way into the net. Goalkeepers Joe Rayburn and Jorge Rodriguez each played all 110 minutes for their respective teams, with each tallying six saves.
Rigoberto Loreto finished with a match-high three shots on goal for PLU, while Tyler Repic totaled a pair of on-goal shots for the Wildcats. The final minutes of the second overtime saw PLU with the ball near the Linfield box several times, but the Wildcat defense prevented the Lutes from pulling off a Golden Goal victory before time ran out.
No. 7 Brockport 2, Buffalo State 0
Senior Ryan Phillips scored the game-winning goal, keeping No. 7 Brockport undefeated with a victory against visiting Buffalo State on Saturday afternoon in a SUNYAC matchup.
With the win, the Golden Eagles improve to 6-0-2 on the season and open up SUNYAC play 2-0.
The Bengals had a few chances early on to score, but could not come up with a finish. The Brockport defense played strong throughout the entire match. The few fast break opportunities that the Bengals had, the Golden Eagles were able to immediately step up and stop the play.
As the Buffalo State offense became agitated, Brockport was able to settle into a rhythm. At 27:43 Phillips tallied his first goal of the season off of a beautiful throw-in by Bobby Ross. Ross launched the ball into the box and Phillips connected on it right past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
The Buffalo State goalkeeper came up with some big saves towards the end of the first half, keeping the Golden Eagles lead to one heading into halftime.
In the second half, the Bengals had a few early opportunities to tie the game, but Casey Sullivan came up with some big saves.
The Golden Eagles took a 2-0 lead at 59:15 off of a Buffalo State own goal. Matthew Roorda slammed a ball into the box off a corner kick and the Buffalo State defender accidently headed the ball into the back of his own net.
Brockport was able to hold off the Buffalo State offense for the rest of the second half to seal the victory.
Both teams were even in stats, each getting off 12 shots and taking four corner kicks. Sullivan finished the game with eight saves and earned his seventh shutout of the season.
No. 8 Wheaton (Ill.) 3, No. 16 Washington (Mo.) 2
WHEATON, Ill. -- Saturday night's top-25 tilt was the classic tale of two halves. With a 1-0 lead already in hand, 16th-ranked Washington (Mo.) scored early in the second half to take a 2-0 lead. However, from the 51st minute on, Wheaton outshot the Bears 28-2 and rallied to force overtime and eventually earn a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in front of a frenzied crowd of 1,033 at Joe Bean Stadium. With the win, the eighth-ranked Thunder improved to 6-3 while the Bears fell to 5-2-1.
In the extra period, it looked as if an act of individual brilliance would bring the game to its dramatic conclusion. Taking the ball on the defensive side of midfield, Hollingsworth streaked forward and unleashed a blistering left foot from 30 yards out that sailed inches over the crossbar allowing the game to continue.
Just minutes later, a group effort finally brought the game to an end. Playing off the left wing, Josh Clark sent a long cross into the middle of the box and Stephen Golz rose above the crowd to head the ball into the back of the net and give Wheaton the instantaneous 3-2 victory at the 94:27 mark. The goal was Golz' seventh of the season.
No. 9 DePauw 0, Kenyon 0
GREENCASTLE, Ind. -- Ninth-ranked DePauw suffered it first blemish on the 2013 schedule after it tied Kenyon in a North Coast Athletic Conference contest at Boswell Field.
DePauw is now 10-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 in the NCAC, while the Lords are 7-2-1 overall and 0-0-1 in the conference.
The Tigers held a 14-9 edge in shots including an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal.
Jake Pezzuto totaled four saves for DePauw, while Sam Clougher had eight for Kenyon.
No. 10 Stevens 4, Alfred 0
ALFRED, N.Y. -– Senior forward Stephen Dunbar scored two goals in the first 21:16 of match time and the defense posted its fourth shutout of the year as No. 10 Stevens improved to 6-1-1 overall and 1-0 in the Empire 8 with a 4-0 win at Alfred (4-6-0 overall, 0-2 Empire 8) Saturday.
Dunbar put the Ducks on top in the 11th minute with an unassisted marker, and then found the net again at 21:16 when he put away a feed from sophomore midfielder Carson Pryor.
Less than five minutes later, sophomore Colin Phillips tied Dunbar for the team lead (5) with a perfectly struck free kick, giving Stevens a 3-0 edge after a shade over 26 minutes of action.
The 3-0 score would hold through intermission as the Ducks held a 9-3 edge in shots and a 2-0 margin in corners after 45 minutes.
In the second, Stevens continued to dominate, out-shooting Alfred 16-0 to end with a 25-3 advantage. The Ducks also out-cornered Alfred 9-0 in the final 45 and 11-0 for the match.
Stevens' final score came with 12:01 remaining and was recorded by freshman midfielder Chris Renna. The tally was the first of his career (third point) and was assisted by classmate Jay Mikula.
Senior goalkeeper Paul Killian earned the win in goal, making one save in 75 minutes of action. Freshman Mike Renna played the final 14-plus between the pipes.
The Ducks have now outscored their opponents 26-4 overall, while averaging 3.25 goals for and just .50 goals against. They are plus-44 in shot attempts, making the most out of each one by putting 47.1 percent on net. Stevens also has assisted on 18 of its 26 tallies.
