In their season opener at home on Tuesday against rival No. 20 Syracuse Orange, the Colgate men’s soccer team fell 4-0 in a hard fought match. Despite the lopsided final score, Colgate played valiantly throughout, even starting off the contest with strong scoring opportunities. In the 7th minute, after a well placed pass from senior Nick Arpy, first-year Geinda Smith beat the keeper but, by mere inches, missed the shot and the opportunity to start the season off with a burst of momentum. That crisis averted, the Orange went on the offensive when the corner kick of sophomore Stefanos Stamoulacatos caught the boot of first-year Emil Ekblom in the 10th minute but ultimately missed the mark. This opportunity was followed by 30 minutes of well fought, scoreless soccer.

In the 40th minute, however, Syracuse began to demonstrate that their national ranking is  no fluke. Junior Jordan Murrell set up a header for first-year Alex Halis for his first collegiate goal to put the

opposition on the board.

The Raiders, however, were not discouraged. Immediately following half time, junior Tanner Schilling, while advancing upfield finds an open first-year Ethan Kutler, who then sent the ball wide.

With 30 minutes left to play, the Raiders experienced a scare when a scrum broke out in front of the net but junior goalkeep Liam Stapleton held fast against two strikes. Nine minutes later, however, things began to spiral out of control for the Raider squad. Syracuse first-year Noah Rhynhart scored his first collegiate goal, introducing a keen sense of urgency for Colgate to score. The Orange’s momentum would prove to be too much for the home squad. Not a minute passed before an assist from junior Nick Perea connects with Ekblom for his first collegiate goal. Less than 10 minutes later, Ekblom scored again, this time on a cross from first-year Oyvind Alseth to cap off the

offensive onslaught.

On the game the Orange outshot the Raiders severely 16-6; however, beyond the rapidly accumulated three goals in the middle of the second half the Raiders put up a valiant effort.

In their second game this week, a nail biter against the Hofstra Pride on Sunday, the Raiders put up a strong fight. Smith tallied his first collegiate goal in the 18th minute for the Raiders only goaloff a pass from senior captain Barrett Metzger. The Pride were able to even it up in the 31st minute on a goal by junior Chris Griebsch. The game remained scoreless in regular time and almost all of both overtime periods. After an inopportune penalty with five seconds remaining, the Pride capitalized on the Griebsch free kick and first-year Lerthon Theuma shook his defender and punched in the winning header ending the game and giving the Pride the victory.

 Contact Eric Reimund at [email protected].