NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University men's soccer team capped its three-game homestand at Mazzella Field with a 3-0 victory over Stonehill on Wednesday afternoon for the first victory of the season. Rookies
Enbiya Bolur and
Andrey Mora Bravo along with sophomore
Antony Recinos tallied their first collegiate goals in the win for the Gaels.
Recinos paced the Maroon & Gold offense with a three-point afternoon assisting on the second goal and scoring the final tally. Mora Bravo also had a breakout game totaling his first collegiate goal and an assist for the multi-point effort. Bolur tallied his first collegiate points with the first half goal and eventual game winner. Graduate students Aitor Horde and
Storm Schmidt Hollensted and sophomore
Sebastian Curti all added assists in the win. Rookie
Josh Bells recorded his first career win and shutout in goal, making two saves.
GAME SUMMARY
Iona dictated the tempo to start the game, working the ball in the attacking third early. Stonehill turned around with a breakaway chance in the 20
th minute, but Bells was there to make the save.
The Gaels offense remained calm from there working deliberately on the attack. Jorde worked the ball from 25-yards out to Bolur in the 27
th minute. The rookie juked past the defender and took two dribbles and rifled the shot to the back right corner or the goal to give Iona the 1-0 lead.
From there it was all Iona to close out the first half, as rookie
Andres Becerra led the breakaway charge in the 40
th minute with a pass up front to Curti who then dished the ball out wide to Recinos. A one-touch cross from the left side kicked past the defender for Mora Bravo to bury the turnaround shot for 2-0 advantage.
The Maroon & Gold held a 6-1 advantage on shot attempts through the first 45 minutes of play.
The restart saw Iona continue to work the ball into the Skyhawks zone repeatedly. The Gaels held a 12-6 advantage on shots for the second stanza. Bells came up with a big diving stop towards the right post to hold the visitors off the scoreboard.
Iona capped the scoring in the 87
th minute as Schmidt Hollensted sent a cross in to Mora Bravo who one-touched the ball behind him to a charging Recinos to bury the point blank shot to bring the final score to 3-0.
TEAM STATS
- Iona fired a season-high 18 shot attempts on the day while holding Stonehill to an opponent low seven shot attempts. The Gaels held a 7-2 margin for shots on goal.
- It was a season-high 10 corner kick attempts for Iona while holding the Skyhawks to three attempts.
- A chippy contest saw 18 fouls and six yellow cards handed out in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Gaels embark on a three-game road swing to close out September. First up is a trip up north on Saturday, September 13 for a 6 p.m. contest at Binghamton.