The Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s soccer teams braved the rain and cold this Saturday, Oct. 14 to battle Wilkes University during Homecoming Weekend. The men’s team (6-5-2, 4-2-0 LC) put out an impressive 3-0 victory over the visitors (4-5-5, 1-3-2 LC) with three different goal scorers and over triple the number of shots taken as Wilkes. The women’s team (3-7-3, 1-3-2 LC) put on a dominant performance but was unable to seal the deal and drew 1-1 with Wilkes (3-5-5, 1-3-2 LC).  

The men’s team came out strong with an early goal in the 14^th minute; senior midfielder Gavin Domsohn floated a ball in on a cross and junior midfielder Pedro Guizardi smashed it home with a powerful header. This was Guizardi’s seventh goal of the season. Not even ten minutes later, Guizardi almost netted an eighth, only for his freekick to be pushed away by the keeper. Unfortunately for the keeper, it landed right at the feet of junior midfielder Hudson Peck who buried it, putting the Jays up 2-0 in the first half. Just in the first half, Etown outshot Wilkes 9-3.  

The second half was more of the same, with junior forward James Abiss recording his first career goal in the 57^th minute, assisted by Guizardi. Abiss transferred to Etown his sophomore year and started a handful of games and now has netted his first of hopefully many. The Jays dominated this half, outshooting Wilkes 13-3 with graduate student goalkeeper Kelvin Del Cid only needing to make one save in the 81 minutes he was in; sophomore goalie Bryce Domsohn was brought in for the final nine for his first minutes of the season.  

While the women’s team also dominated the game, they were unable to convert and ended up tying 1-1. In the 19^th minute, junior forward Marissa Vandernick beat the keeper and squared it to senior midfielder Maddie McWhinney who promptly buried it in the back of the net. Etown outshot Wilkes 13-3 in the first half, with our defense limiting Wilkes’s shooting to outside the 18. The Jays had almost converted earlier as well, as senior midfielder Sydney Reich’s 13^th minute attempt was lasered into the left post and junior Ava Whisten’s follow-up was challenged by the keeper and sent into the right post.  

While Etown had much of the possession in the second half, Wilkes managed to score on a counter in the 70^th minute, tying the game up. The Jays increased their press for the remainder of the second half, with Vandernick and others getting close, but they were unfortunately unable to find the back of the net, with the game ending in a 1-1 draw. The Jays domination of the game is visible in some of the stats, even though it might not be in the scoreline; Etown outshot Wilkes 17-7, with shots on goals being 7-4 and corners 5-0.  

The women’s team will go again on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Goucher College at 3:30 p.m. The men’s team will also travel to Goucher College on Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. Both teams should be able to put on another dominating performance, with the men continuing this winning run and the women’s rebounding from the tie. Good luck, Jays!