By Kayln Albers, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna men’s soccer team dropped their first ever game in program history to Goucher College with a 3–2 loss in overtime.
Sophomore midfielder Alex Graul lit up the scoreboard first with a shot to the back of the net in the first 15 minutes.
Goucher was quick to answer back with a shot on goal seconds later but that attempt was saved by Susquehanna’s sophomore goalie Matt Ellingworth keeping the River Hawks in the lead.
Susquehanna, throughout the first period, got three corner kicks, but none were able to be converted into a goal. Susquehanna’s offense put up a fight with 10 shots on goal.
The first half saw little action following Graul’s goal, and ended with Susquehanna up 1–0 at the end of the half.
Goucher tied the game early in the second half with a goal from sophomore forward Brandon Cohen assisted by sophomore midfielder Moibanda Rogers.
The River Hawks had control for the following 20 minutes before freshman forward Chris Naiman scored in the 81st minute with 10 minutes left on the board, Alex Graul assisted that play.
This gave the River Hawks the one goal they needed to seal the game. Junior forward, Konrad Bulanowski from Goucher took that as a challenge though, as he answered back just 1:12 later with a goal. As the clock ran down to
zero, the scoreboard read 2–2. Four minutes into the over- time period, Goucher was awarded a penalty shot after Ellingworth came off his line to defend a player that out ran the River Hawks defense, granting him a foul, a red card and to be sent off the field. Freshman Ben King was on reserve and filled in as Susquehanna’s goalkeeper for the rest of the game.
Bulanowski with his second goal of the night shot to the right of the goal giving Goucher another point on the scoreboard making it 3–2 and end- ing the game. Before getting issued a red card Ellingworth had three saves the entire game. Seven yellow cards and one red card were issued during the entirety of the game.
On Wednesday though, the River Hawks were able to pick up their first conference win of the season against Juniata 2-0.
Freshman defenseman Patrick Bresney scored the first goal in the 55th minute and senior forward Ryan Cronin added the second goal in the 72nd minute.
In goal for the River Hawks was freshman Casey Hoover, who started his first game of his collegiate career due to Ellingworth’s red card from the game against Goucher, and he did not disappoint as he earned a shutout win. Hoover made two saves on the day.
The River Hawks will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 4 p.m. at Scranton. The game will be the annual Scranton Red Card Cancer match that will raise money and help boost awareness in the battle against the disease.