WASHINGTON, D.C. – A strong team effort guided the Colgate men's soccer team to a 2-0 road win at American Saturday afternoon to secure the Raiders' first Patriot League win of the season.
Junior
Oliver Harris and sophomore
Kentaro Morrison accounted for Colgate's goals. Sophomore keeper
Jacob Harris was strong in his Colgate debut, stopping a penalty kick in the 68th minute and securing his first career shutout.
Oliver Harris gave the Raiders a quick 1-0 lead in the third minute of the game. A corner kick from senior
Jared Stroud found the head of sophomore
Christian Clarke who redirected the ball to Harris. Harris sent the ball into the back of the net for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
Colgate kept the pressure up throughout the remainder of the half, out-shooting the Eagles 9-1 in the frame. American keeper John Mino made four saves in the opening term to keep the Raider lead at 1-0 heading into halftime.
The Raiders held a 4-0 shot edge in the opening 15 minutes of the second half before Morrison added the insurance tally in the 65th minute. He collected a through ball from junior
Uyi Omorogbe and buried it in the back of the net to stretch the Colgate lead to 2-0.
The Eagles had a chance to get on the board just over two minutes later as a Colgate foul led to an American penalty kick.
Jacob Harris stepped up to save the kick and keep his shutout in tact in his first career action. The Raider defense took care of the rest, limiting the Eagles to just one shot the rest of the way, as Colgate held on to earn the 2-0 win.
BOTTOM LINE
WON-LOST RECORDS
- The Raiders are now 4-7-1 on the season and 1-2-1 in the Patriot League. The victory secures three big points in the league standings.
- American falls to 2-9-1 overall and 1-3-0 in the Patriot League.
KEY RAIDER INFO
- Colgate secured its fourth clean sheet of the season.
- Harris scored his second goal of the season, while Morrison tallied his first.
- Stroud, Colgate's career assists leader, dished his team-leading sixth assist of the season.
- Clarke tallied his first career assist, while Omorogbe registered his second.
- The Raiders and Eagles were meeting for the first time since last year's Patriot League Championship game. Colgate is now 6-10-4 all-time against American.
FACTS & FIGURES
- The Raiders finished the game with a 14-5 shot advantage and 4-2 corner kick edge.
- Harris made three saves in goal.
- Colgate forced American's Mino to make seven saves, while there were also two team saves recorded.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach
Erik Ronning
- "This was a very important win for us for many reasons, and the players deserve all the credit for such a complete performance."
- "Since Wednesday's game, we showed great improvement on both sides of the ball. We played with urgency and maturity."
- "What is exciting is that there are many areas we can continue to improve both defensively and on the attack."
UP NEXT
- Colgate takes a short break from Patriot League play when the Raiders travel to Central New York foe Cornell Tuesday night.
- The non-league finale is slated to kick off at 7 p.m. from Ithaca, N.Y.