WILKES-BARRE, Pa– After a disappointing opening day loss to Eastern University, the Ithaca College men's soccer team bounced back impressively, defeating Wilkes University 5-0 on Labor Day on Monday afternoon to get their record back to .500 now sitting at 1-1. With the loss, the Colonels of Wilkes University fell to 1-2 on the season.
Losing the first game of your season after such an incredible postseason run one year prior clearly fired up the Bombers for this contest as it was an offensive onslaught from the very beginning. The Bombers put the offensive pressure on early and were rewarded with a pretty goal coming from
Landon Hellwig, putting the Bombers up 1-0 within the first 15 minutes of action.
Just 10 minutes later, in the 25th minute, first year
Emmett Enriquez found the back of the net to double the Bombers lead to 2-0. The frustration from the Colonels was evident as Giovanni Mazzola picked up the team's second yellow card of the match just two minutes after the Enriquez tally.
The second half was much of the same story, Ithaca domination. The Bombers third goal of the match was scored thanks to a great effort from
Jared Krasnove making it 3-0 in the 66th minute. In the 83rd minute, it was
Andrew Kusek scoring to make it 4-0, and finally,
Joshua Bourdoulous added some extra insurance scoring the fifth and final goal of the contest in the 89th minute.
A combination of explosive offense with smothering defense helped the Bombers come away with this contest as they were impressive from top to bottom for the entirety of the match.
Connor Tierney and
Landon Hellwig had five and four shot attempts respectively to lead the way for the Bombers. Goalkeeper
Bryson Shaull wasn't tested all that much but stopped the only shot he faced for his first shutout of the season.
The Bombers will continue their road trip when they head to Alfred, N.Y. to take on Alfred State College on Saturday, September 7 at 4:00 p.m.
