CORTLAND, N.Y. – For the fourth time this season, graduate student
Blake Aronson (Huntington Station/Walt Whitman) scored the game-winning goal in a Cortland victory as the nationally 24th-ranked Red Dragons defeated Ithaca, 1-0, in men's soccer action at Holloway Field on Saturday afternoon.
Freshmen
Muiz Bayewu (Albany) and
Cade Denlinger (Elizabethtown, PA/Elizabethtown Area) assisted on the goal for Cortland, now 5-1-1 on the season with five straight wins. Junior goalie
Braden Melveney (Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) made three saves in posting his third shutout of the season.
Sophomore Ian Whitfield (Sterling, VA/Dominion) started in goal for the Bombers (2-4-2), playing 60:49 before giving way to senior Lee Folger (Chapel Hill, NC/East Chapel Hill). Neither player was forced to make a save in the game.
After a scoreless first half in which Ithaca outshot Cortland, 10-4, Aronson tallied his fifth goal of the season in the 61st minute. Denlinger served a pass into the left side of the box. Bayewu headed the ball to the right side of the box where Aronson drove a clean header past Whitfield.
The Bombers pressed for the equalizer, creating two excellent chances. In the 68th minute, senior Jon Kyriakidis (Sleepy Hollow/Pleasantville) broke in alone in the box, but Melveney made a save on his shot that deflected off a Cortland defender. Two minutes later, senior Ali Kapasi (Lawrenceville, NJ/Shattuck St. Mary's) drove a 19-yard free kick over the goal after a Cortland foul just outside the box.
Cortland 1, Ithaca 0
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Ithaca: no scoring
Cortland:
Blake Aronson 1-0,
Muiz Bayewu 0-1,
Cade Denlinger 0-1
Halftime: Cortland 0, Ithaca 0
Shots: Ithaca 16, Cortland 8
Corner Kicks: Ithaca 9, Cortland 2
Fouls: Cortland 15, Ithaca 7
Saves: Ian Whitfield (Ithaca) 0 saves (1 GA in 60:49), Lee Folger (Ithaca) 0 saves (0 GA in 29:11);
Braden Melveney (Cortland) 3 saves (0 GA in 90:00)
Record after game: Ithaca (Bombers) 2-4-2; Cortland (Red Dragons) 5-1-1 (ranked 24th nationally in Div. III)
