Photo courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Ashley Nace
The Susquehanna men’s soccer team tied Elizabethtown 0-0 in their first home conference game on Saturday afternoon. The River Hawks (2-6-2) now have a two-game tie streak after a 1-1 finish against King’s College on Wednesday.
The first half showed more opportunities to the Blue Jays (5-3-3). Though the River Hawks got the first corner kick of the game two minutes into the game, the Blue Jays got the first shot which missed wide to the right at 32:12.
“We came out pretty slow and were defending for most of the first half,” said Susquehanna forward Dylan Ryan.
Elizabethtown’s second shot came eight minutes later. A strength for Susquehanna was their ability to catch the Blue Jays offsides, which they did halfway through the first half for the first time.
A corner kick for Elizabethtown at the 15-minute mark led to a swift counterattack from the River Hawks and their first shot from Ryan.
The shot went out for a Susquehanna corner, but no chances resulted. The Blue Jays finished out the half with a shot in the last minute of play that missed wide.
In the second half, the River Hawks frustrated the Blue Jays with several more offsides calls.
“[Elizabethtown] led the landmark in goals going into the game, so being able to lock them down and not conceding was a positive for us,” Ryan said.
The first offsides came a short 25 seconds into the half. The second came two minutes later. Elizabethtown earned an offsides call on Susquehanna to hold them from a scoring chance, but the River Hawks returned the favor with another offsides call on the Blue Jays.
At the halfway point of the second half, things heated up.
“In the second, we came out with more energy and kept the ball a little more,” Ryan said.
A shot by Elizabethtown in the center of the net was saved by the River Hawks. Ryan earned a yellow card on the same play. Two more shots for the Blue Jays missed to the left of the net before the River Hawks came bearing down with chances.
Near the 10-minute mark, Khalil McDonald took a shot that went high over the net. Jack McCarthy also took a shot that missed wide.
An Elizabethtown player received a yellow card with 2:23 to go and a final shot from the Blue Jays with seconds left on the clock brought the end of the game.
“We definitely were not satisfied with the tie, but there were some good things that we took away from the game.”
The Blue Jays outshot the River Hawks 8-3, with only one shot from Elizabethtown making it on goal.
Elizabethtown received seven offsides calls to Susquehanna’s one. The Blue Jays had three corner kick attempts, while the River Hawks had two.
The River Hawks return to the pitch Wednesday night as they face Wilkes at home at 7p.m. in search of their first conference win.