The Elizabethtown College men’s soccer team defeated Hood College 2-0 in last Saturday’s homecoming soccer game, which featured the crowning of this year’s Homecoming king and queen at halftime.
The Blue Jays (8-5-2, 5-1 CC) looked to repeat last year’s dominating performance against Hood (6-7-2, 2-2-1 CC), when, in the very first meeting between the two schools, Etown piled on goal after goal and came away with the 6-0 shutout win.
Etown got their first shot of the game in the first minute when junior Andrew Sandridge found himself in space behind the Hood defense. He fired a shot that was turned away by Blazers’ sophomore goalkeeper Ian McDonald. Senior Zach Lee had the second shot of the game two minutes later, but McDonald again made the save. McDonald played as a defender in his first year and was Hood’s second leading scorer in 2012, but now primarily plays in goal. He had seven saves on eight shots in the first half alone. Hood did not get their first shot until the 15th minute, at which point Etown had already tallied four. At halftime, the game remained scoreless.
Neither team was able to gain an advantage on the scoreboard until the 66th minute when Sandridge scored the first goal of the game on a shot that deflected off Hood’s Ian Jenkins and into the net. The Blazers did not record a single shot in the last 24 minutes of the game. Sandridge netted the second goal for Etown as well. In the 86th minute, junior forward Dylan Sisler worked his way down the sideline from midfield and crossed the ball to a waiting Sandridge, who buried his second goal of the game and his fifth of the season.
Blue Jays goalkeeper Rodrigo Barrera was on point, denying both of Hood’s two shots on goal. He recorded his third clean sheet this season and his second in a row. In those shutout games, he had a total of 13 saves. Barrera’s save percentage sits at .839, which the highest in the MAC Commonwealth Conference. He has not allowed a goal in his last 202 minutes in goal.
Etown ended the game with a season-high shot total of twenty-three. Ten of those were on target. Hood managed 10 shots. The Blue Jays had five corner kicks to the Blazers’ four. The Blue Jays have gone an undefeated 16-0-1 in homecoming games since 1997, their lone tie being against Lebanon Valley College in last year’s homecoming game. Sandridge and Barrera both received Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week honors for their performances.
The Blue Jays continued their success on Tuesday when they defeated the Stevenson Mustangs 5-1. Junior forward Zach Hollinger netted two goals in a span of three minutes to give Etown an early lead that they would never look back from. Senior captain Kyle Volk also had two goals during the game, while sophomore Martin Fevre was also able to put one past the keeper in the victory.
The team has won five of their last six conference games and currently sits in second place in the Commonwealth Conference behind rival Messiah College, who is ranked No. 2 in the nation for DIII.
Etown’s next two games are away. The team will play Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa. on Saturday and Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa. on Wednesday. The Blue Jays return to Ira R. Herr Field for the final time this regular season for their last conference matchup and Senior Day game against Widener on Saturday, Nov. 2. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
