Peterson tallied his third assist of the season to lift UC to its season straight win
Box Score
Utica 2, SUNYIT 0 - Final
Marcy, NY (9/1/2012) – The Utica College men's soccer team won its second game in as many days on Saturday as it battled to a 2-0 result against host and cross-town rival SUNYIT. The Pioneers (2-0) have now started the year with two straight victories for the second consecutive year. Junior forward
Kevin McAllister (Boxford, MA/Masconomet Regional) netted his team-best third goal of the year in the second half to help secure the Pioneer victory.
“We played better today and we are continuing to improve which is a great sign for us this early in the season,” said Head Coach Eric Watson. “We had a couple of beautiful goals for the second straight night. We still have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be but I think this is a solid start for us.”
Saturday's victory gave Head Coach Eric Watson his 100th career win and he now holds a 100-70-19 overall mark in 11 seasons (three different schools). Prior to coming to Utica at the beginning of last season, Watson spent four years at SUNY New Paltz where he went 25-39-8 overall and was named the SUNYAC Coach of the Year in 2010. Before
New Paltz, Watson spent five years at Linfield where he compiled an overall record of 62-24-10 and led his team to the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, Linfield picked up the Northwest Conference (NWC) Championship and Watson was later named NWC Coach of the Year.
The Pioneers struck first in the 7th minute when senior
Jeff Konieczny (Hadley, MA/Hopkins) scored his first of the year after receiving a perfect pass from junior Jonathan Peterson. Peterson beat out two defenders in the box and found the streaking Konieczny on the doorstop for the empty netter. Peterson now has one goal and is tied for the team lead with three assists.
In the 52nd minute McAllister took a long ball down the middle for the field from
Alex Sheridan (East Islip, NY/St. John the Baptist) and turned it into a goal for the Pioneers. Like Peterson, Sheridan also has three assists to start the year.
Junior goalie
Anthony Caruso (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow), who made two saves on the evening, now has 11 career shut outs to his credit. The Pioneers outshot the home team 8-2 on the afternoon.
The Pioneers return to the pitch on Wednesday when they travel to Cazenovia College to take on the Wildcats in non-conference action at 4 p.m.
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