BROCKPORT, NY--- The Golden Eagles men's soccer team started off SUNYAC play with a strong 3-1 victory against the Buffalo State Bengals. Brockport faced a lot of early pressure in the first-half with the Bengals generating seven shots (three on goal). Graduate student defender DJ Taylor and the rest of the Golden Eagles were able to cope well with the pressure and still capitalize on two huge chances in the first-half.
"In practice, we've been working on our defensive shape and making sure we're tracking our guys that prepared us for this moment unfortunately we let them score one, but we scored three and at the end of the day that's all that mattered." DJ Taylor said in the post-game interview.
Freshman midfielder Sean Lee scored a crucial goal for the Golden Eagles with 43 minutes played in the first-half. The goal came off a rebounded free kick that was saved by the Buffalo State keeper.
"Coach told me to crash the net, so I crashed the net. You have to keep that mindset when you want those opportunities to score." Sean Lee said in the post-game interview.
The Brockport defense kept their shape well and they were able to withstand constant attacks from Buffalo State even with an early substitution. Graduate student Seamus Parker had to be subbed out just 11 minutes into the match and on for him was Junior Malcolm Philips who played well off the bench.
"Malcolm did a great job stepping in and helping us, he's a veteran, he knows what to do, we're very proud of how he played today." Said head coach Gary LaPietra.
Buffalo State's goal came just a third of the way through the second half by way of Sophomore forward Joseph Desmonie. Brockport would immediately respond however with a quick goal by Junior forward Evan Stevely. He laid a beautiful shot from left side of the goal across to the far post just two minutes later. Re-establishing the two-goal lead was massive for Brockport who was then able to move all their efforts to the defensive third.
"We were struggling offensively going into this game so scoring three goals in this game was huge for us. Hopefully we can get more confident moving forward." Said DJ Taylor in the post-game interview.
A driving factor for this result for Brockport was their improvements as a unit communicating with one another.
"Soccer is a game of communication. We haven't been talking as much as we have today so that was a step forward." Said head coach Gary LaPietra.
Brockport will hope to carry the momentum from the all-around team performance against Buffalo State into their next fixture against SUNYAC foe Plattsburgh State on Saturday.