The men’s soccer team split a pair of games this week. After dropping a close contest to league foe New York University, the ‘Jackets righted the ship by crushing Rochester Institute of Technology.
UR took the almost 350 mile trip to Manhattan to face the Violets of NYU on Saturday. NYU came out firing, but UR’s defense stayed strong and the game was close throughout the first half. In the 28th minute, NYU scored off a set piece to take a 1-0 lead.
The Yellowjackets looked to regroup after halftime, but such thoughts were derailed less than four minutes into the second half. The Violets got an insurance goal off a direct kick and took a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead.
Rather than pack their bags and head home early, the ‘Jackets stepped up the pressure. They outshot NYU 12-9 in the second half, and it paid off in the 85th minute as sophomore Sean Hantes scored his second goal of the year. UR could not find the back of the net again, however, and lost by a score of 2-1.
On Tuesday, the team faced a much shorter trip to take on the RIT Tigers. UR proved to be the superior team from the opening whistle, as senior Neil Osuch scored off an assist from junior Jeremy Mann just over a minute into the game.
The next 30 minutes were the Tyler Green show. The senior scored twice to raise his season total to eight and the score of the game to 3-0. Junior Nick Mikolenko headed in a corner kick in the 39th minute to cap the first half scoring.
The second half was more of the same, as the UR defense kept RIT off the scoreboard. Senior Greg Colavecchia scored a goal in the 80th minute and the Yellowjackets cruised to a 5-0 victory.
Sophomore Dominic Pellingra had two assists in the game, both in the form of successful corner kicks.
Junior goalie Paco Corbalan made three saves in just over 65 minutes of work for the ‘Jackets.
UR’s record stands at 5-3-1, 0-1 in University Athletic Association play. This week they start a three-game homestand by taking on UAA opponent Brandies University at Fauver Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Moeller can be reached at amoeller@campustimes.org.
