The Elizabethtown College men’s soccer team improves to 6-1 on the season with a split this past week with a loss at top ranked Franklin & Marshall and a home win against Catholic University.
Fourth ranked Franklin & Marshall jumped pit early as they had two first half goals followed by a third goal in the second half before the Blue Jays were able to get on the board. Martin Fevre had a three point night with a goal in the 53rd minute and an assist to Shane Votto in the 66th minute. However, it would be the diplomats that struck first at the 20:10 mark of the first half when Jason Tonelli deflected a shot from Janse Schermerhorn past a fallen Rodrigo Barrera. Barrera made a point blank save on the Diplomats’ Ugo Okolie, but could do little to recover in time to stop Tonelli in front. Then at the 32nd minute, the Diplomats went ahead by two when a Chase Tenbrook shot banked off the right post and found its way into the net.
Okolie then added a bigger lead in the 52nd minute with his third marker of the season, and though Fevre briefly cut the lead to 3-1 in the 53rd, Tenbrook found the back of the net again in the 60th to make it 4-1. However, the Blue Jays made things interesting when Votto’s header off Fevre’s free kick in the 66th minute beat the Diplomats keeper Trevor Britton. Despite the loss, Votto still feels very optimistic, “Our biggest thing is to get better every day. We made a lot of small errors that led to big consequences against F&M, so if we can limit those then we have a great chance of success no matter who we play.”
It was a complete different story on Saturday however, when the Blue Jays defeated reigning conference champions, Catholic University, 5-2 in what Votto called a “statement game.”
Catholic pressed early, but goal keeper Rodrigo Barrera stooped a trio of shots in just the first 12 minutes of play. Catholic continued its pressure offensively and the Blue Jays took momentum on Shane Votto’s first goal of the season. Jeff Light dribbled down the left side of the box near the end line, crossed back toward the penalty spot where Votto took the pass and scored. The Blue Jays controlled the first half only allowing one more shot attempt in the last 25 minute as they took a 1-0 lead into the break.
With less than ten minutes to go, the Blue Jays went up 4-2 after Catholic’s Tyler Zimmerman connected on a penalty kick for the Cardinals, while Eneme completed the hat trick off an assist from Light, his second of the night. Barrera made a total of six saves in the game while moving on to his sixth win on the year. The men’s soccer team will travel to take on Alvernia in Reading, Pa on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
