This past week, Elizabethtown College’s men’s soccer team fought a hard battle both at home and on the road against two of their tougher competitors, Alvernia University and Albright College, to bring their season record to 6-6-2. The Jays were coming back from a tough loss in the famous rivalry against Messiah College, losing 4-0, and looking for a win. This week Etown fans could really start to see the offense come together against these two teams, and the defense held strong.
It was a cold and windy Wednesday night as the Blue Jays faced Alvernia here in Etown on Ira R. Herr Field Oct. 10. It was a long first 33 minutes as both Alvernia and Etown battled for the ball. The Jays’ offense put multiple shots on goal, while the defense held the Crusaders to only one.
Then Martin Fevre, a first-year defender for the Jays, passed the ball into the open toward sophomore Dylan Sisler. Sisler composed himself for the shot and fired it past the Crusaders goalie Ben Diller, ending Diller’s chances for a seventh shutout this season, putting the Jays ahead in the game. “When Dylan scored, it was awesome. After having lost to them last year, it was great to get the first goal and let everyone play more relaxed,” sophomore defender Andrew Sandridge said.
It was up to the defense and the Jays’ goalie senior Eric Carr to hold the game. “I wasn’t sure that [Sisler’s goal] would be the only goal we would score in the game, but as soon as we did score, I knew my responsibilities immediately were focused on defensive pressure and keeping our shape to prevent any slip-ups that would give them a chance to equalize,” sophomore Kyle Fowler said. In the second half, Alvernia did not go without a fight, putting up seven more shots on goal. At the end of the game, the score was 1-0 Etown, giving Carr his first shutout of the year, and the 16th of his career.
On Oct. 13, the Jays took on their second game of the week against Albright. This game, even though it was non-conference, was important to the Jays; either it would bring them up to .500 or bring them in just under. Things were slow in the first half; there were only a total of six shots on goal from both sides as the teams headed off for halftime.
Things quickly changed when Albright struck first during the first three minutes into the second half, making the score 1-0. Junior Zach Lee quickly evened the score as he took a shot three minutes later, tying the game. Throughout the rest of the second half, it was a battle for who would score next; both the Jays and the Lions put multiple shots on goal, many of them coming close to going into the net.
With just minutes left in the tied game, fans started to worry the game would go into overtime. Then suddenly, with only 20 seconds left, senior Ross Withrow fired a shot off a rebound from sophomore Zach Hollinger to put the Jays out on top 2-1, giving Etown the victory they were looking for. “Tonight’s game was incredible because of the way we all fought and never gave up, even after conceding the first goal of the game,” Sandridge said. “We all fought hard to the end of the game. We believed in each other and gave everything we had and it resulted in an Etown win.”
On Oct. 17, the Blue Jays faced another conference opponent: Stevenson University. In the first ever meeting against the Mustangs, Etown came out on top with a dominating 4-0 performance. Sisler, Lee, Sandridge and sophomore Phill Spector all scored in the win. Although the Mustangs outshot Etown 18-12, Carr stepped up to the challenge, registering five saves on the evening. This moves the team to 7-6-2 and 5-1 in the conference.