By Colin Richey, Assistant Sports Editor
The Canisius men’s soccer team lost 4–2 to Cornell on Saturday, Sept. 9, and 2–0 to Binghamton on Wednesday, Sept. 13. The losses came just before the team’s first MAAC game this Saturday against Manhattan.
On Saturday, the Golden Griffins surrendered three goals in the first half to Cornell, including one in the 45th minute. Forward Alex Harris scored two goals just five minutes apart to give the Big Red an early 2–0 lead. Harris also recorded the assist on Cornell’s third goal of the half. In the 53rd minute, Cornell netted another goal, giving them a comfortable 4–0 lead.
Finally, in the 66th minute, sophomore defender Josh Miller broke the scoring drought for Canisius with his first goal of the season. Sophomore midfielder Kyle Pollard sent the through ball to Miller to set up the scoring play. In the 80th minute, sophomore midfielder Michael Switala netted his third goal of the season to bring the Griffins within two. Junior forward Ely Sidibe was credited with the assist. Canisius was unable to continue the comeback and fell to Cornell by a score of 4–2. Junior goalkeeper Jack Petrie recorded five saves in the effort. Cornell dominated the boxscore, outshooting Canisius 20–8, with shots on net finishing 9–4 in favor of the Big Red.
On Wednesday, Binghamton scored twice in 51 seconds to command a sudden 2–0 lead that Canisius was unable to come back from. Throughout the match, the Griffins registered just one shot on goal compared to Binghamton’s nine, and was outshot overall by a margin of 22–6, including 13–2 in the second half. Graduate student goalkeeper Spencer Catalano registered seven saves in the losing effort, a season high, and the third highest of his career. Wednesday’s game was the first shutout of the season against the Griffins.
Canisius begins conference play against their first MAAC opponent, Manhattan, who they’ll play in Riverdale, New York this Saturday at 12 p.m.