Eagles End Losing Streak on Halloween

By Hayley Silverstein

Asst. Student Life Editor

Emory's men's soccer team celebrated its Senior Day by defeating the University of Rochester (N.Y.) 1-0 in its second-to-last home game of the season on Friday.

Before kick-off, Emory honored the four senior members of the team, midfielder Jeffrey Cochran, defender Carl Credle, forward Dylan Price and defender Noah Rosen, in a special senior ceremony.

"Senior day put in perspective the amount of time and energy all the seniors on the team have put into the program and how special it is to be a four-year college athlete – not many people can say that when they graduate college," Rosen said.

The Eagles lost to the University of Chicago (Ill.), New York University and Brandeis University (Mass.) in the three games prior, dropping their University Athletic Association (UAA) record to 1-3-0 and their overall record to 11-3-1 on the season.

The Eagles got off to a rough start at the first whistle and were forced to defend more than they hoped. Rochester kept a high line and dominated possession. Despite their sub-par defending at the beginning of the game, Emory kept a very organized back line led bravely by Rosen.

"As a defense we strive to not allow goals, even when the opposing team is pressuring us, to give our offense a chance to win the game for us," Rosen said. "Our defensive unit is comprised of veteran leadership which is great to have in high pressure matches."

Junior goalkeeper Abe Hannigan looked strong when collecting the ball from numerous corners and shots from the opposing team.

"[In] the few [opportunities to score] that we gave up, our goalkeeper came up big," Credle said.

It wasn't until 15 minutes into the game that Emory started to match Rochester's pace and reach the final attacking third.

Much of the game was very evenly matched, with an impressive display from the midfield and defense of both teams. The intensity of the game was displayed by the 13 fouls each side committed, but Emory picked up two yellow cards compared to Rochester's one.

In the 27th minute, Emory's swimming and diving teams ran out in their swimsuits with kickboards and enthusiastically cheered on the soccer team.

"It is always great when [other teams] come out to support us. The Emory athletic community is extremely strong and supportive of each other. For example, the very next day, our soccer team cheered on the volleyball team during one of their games this weekend," Rosen said.

In the end, working as a team was the main objective of the game.

"[We] just simply played well as a team, and let the talent we have on our team speak for itself," Rosen said. "Emory is a great school and allows us to recruit great quality soccer players. We have a lot of talented soccer players in our program and a strong senior class, which makes us a tough team to beat as the NCAA tournament approaches."

The deadlock was broken with a goal from Price in the 81st minute. It resulted from a deflection by the Rochester goalkeeper off a shot from sophomore midfielder Scott Haley. The goal was Haley's fifth of the season and the 34th of his Emory career. Emory went on to win 1-0, although Rochester boasted an impressive 16 shots compared to Emory's nine.

According to Credle, the player that made the biggest impact was Price.

"[I] haven't seen a player work harder in any other game. The goal for him was icing on the cake," Credle said.

In the end, the hard fought win helped make Senior Day special for the four graduating players. The Eagles went on to defeat Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) 1-0 on Sunday, placing them third in the UAA.

Emory's final game of the regular season will be against fourth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.), in the UAA, on Nov. 8 at 12:00 p.m..

"[The team's goal is to] keep the momentum going all the way to the next game and into the [NCAA] tournament," Credle said.

– By Hayley Silverstein, Assistant Student Life Editor

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