By Alex Kurtz, Sports Editor
The Susquehanna men’s soccer team suffered two loses this week, the first on Sunday against Elmira where they lost 2-1, and the second was on Wednesday when they lost 5-0 to their rival college Lycoming.
Despite an early lead over Elmira, the River Hawks were not able to hold on.
Susquehanna held advantage on the day at 13-5, but could not get shots to fall after the initial goal. Sophomore midfielder Max Maidenberg led Susquehanna in shots with three.
While the River Hawks did lead in advantage, they committed more fouls (10-8) and had two less corner kicks than Elmira.
The fouls were a problem all day for the River Hawks as they had three yellow cards and eventually one red card on Maidenberg in the waning seconds of the game. The sophomore midfielder will be suspended for the River Hawks’ next game as a result.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Ellingworth led the River Hawks in saves with one, while Elmira’s freshman goalkeeper Anthony Lipp led Elmira with five total in the game.
Senior forward Elias George scored the first goal of the game at the 15:10 mark to give the River Hawks an early 1-0 lead. Junior defenseman Thomas Burke also had an assist on the goal.
It did not take long for Elmira to strike back however. Just three minutes later junior defenseman Rodney Smith put in a header off of a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Cameron Sanderson to tie the score up 1-1.
Susquehanna had their one corner kick opportunity of the game in the 38 minute from freshman defenseman Jacob Butzler, but no shot would result from it.
The River Hawks would have one more shot attempt at the end of the half from sophomore forward Joey Dell’Estate but it would go wide, and the score would remain tied 1-1 going into the half.
Less than 20 minutes into the second half, Elmira would score the eventual game-winning goal.
Senior forward Donte Donegal scored an unassisted goal in the 63 minute after beating two Susquehanna defenders down the right sideline to give Elmira a 2-1 lead.
The River Hawks would fire back in the 70 minute with three consecutive shot opportunities. However, all of them were stifled.
The game would end with Maidenberg’s red card, and El- mira would come out on top.
On Wednesday, the team traveled to the Shangraw Complex in Williamsport to play Lycoming.
Lycoming came out strong, and scored two goals in the first five minutes. The first coming from Abdullahi Abdi and the second coming from a 20-yard strike Kyle Mizell.
Ten minutes later, Lycoming would add their third goal of the game off of the foot of Mateo Velasquez on a penalty kick, and by the 38th minute, would add another goal from Tanner Fonjweng to give the Warriors a commanding 4-0 lead before the end of the first half.
In the second half, Susquehanna defense tightened up a bit and only allowed one goal.
Jordan Logan put in the last goal for the Warriors in the 63rd minute making the score 5-0 Lycoming, which would stand as the final score for the game.
After the goal, Lycoming mass-subsituted and got some of the other players some game-play position experience.
Ellingworth had a busy day, as Lycoming bombarded him with 20 shots, 15 of which were on goal, and the River Hawk offense were only able to get off five total shots.
As a result, Lycoming goalie Chris Solecki was relatively untested, having to only make two saves in the first half before being subbed out by Caleb Herrin.
Lycoming also led in corner kick attempts with seven com- pared to Susquehanna’s three total attempts.
Freshman defenseman Patrick Bresney led the River Hawks in shots on the day with two.
Susquehanna returns to action on Saturday, September 9 as they host nonconference foe Stockton at 2 p.m. at Sassafras Field at home in Selinsgrove.
Stockton currently sits with an impressive 3-0 record. Their last game was a 2-1 win in overtime against Marywood University.
Susquehanna will also have sophomore Max Maidenberg back, who missed the Lycoming game due to his red card violation against Elmira.
