The men's soccer team split a pair of road University Athletic Association (UAA) games, falling to the 14th-ranked University of Rochester (N.Y.) Yellowjackets on Friday before rebounding to shutout the Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) Spartans on Sunday afternoon. Emory fell 3-1 to the Yellowjackets and defeated the Spartans 1-0.
The Eagles are now 11-5-1 on the season including a 4-1-1 mark in UAA play.
Emory quickly fell behind against Rochester as the Yellowjackets got two shots past Eagles sophomore goalkeeper Abe Hannigan in the first half of play.
Freshman forward Jason Andrejchak responded with a goal less than four minutes later, cutting the Rochester lead to 2-1.
It would stay at the mark for most of the second half until the Yellowjackets put the game away with a late goal in the 83rd minute of play.
Rochester outshot the Eagles 20-10, including a 9-4 edge in shots on goal.
The Eagles rebounded against the Spartans, shutting them out with the lone goal coming from a throw-in in the 28th minute of play from sophomore defender Leo Ragazzo.
Hannigan played a strong game in goal, saving all four of Case Western's shots on goal. The Spartans outshot the Eagles 14-5, but strong defense and Ragazzo's timely goal allowed Emory to escape with the win.
Hannigan racked up ten saves altogether on the weekend en route to his sixth shutout of the season. The Eagles offense, meanwhile, got the win despite having just one shot on goal.
The victory moved the Eagles into a tie for first place in the UAA with just one regular season game left. The team will host Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.) on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m, and will honor its one graduating senior, forward Andrew Jones.
– By Ryan Smith
Photo courtesy of Emory Athletics
