The AU men's soccer team continued their success at Reeves Field with a 4-2 win over Holy Cross on Saturday. The win was their fourth consecutive victory at home this season and first win of any kind since a 2-1 win over Loyola (Md.) on Sept. 10.
Coming off of a 0-4-2 month-long road trip that included four straight heartbreaking double overtime losses, the Eagles were looking to get back on the winning track.
The game started off positive for AU (4-7-2 overall, 1-1-1 PL) when Philip Purdy buried home a Dor Yasur cross in the 27th minute to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage. The Eagles would add a second tally only five minutes later on a beautiful run by Justin Turco, who outran two defenders to put home his second goal of the season. This gave the Eagles a commanding 2-0 lead entering halftime.
While the first half was dominated by AU, the second half was a more seesaw affair that saw both teams trade goals throughout the period.
After Holy Cross got on the scoreboard in the 53rd minute on a goal by Alex Cruz to cut the lead in half, AU's Sal Caccavale scored his third goal of the season one minute later, on a great cross by Larry Mark, to put the Eagles up 3-1.
However, Holy Cross refused to go away and would again cut the lead back down to one goal in the 59th minute on a second goal by Cruz to give the Eagles a slight 3-2 lead.
Even though the game was close, Garth Juckem was able to add an insurance goal in the 80th minute on a cross off of a Holy Cross defender to give the Eagles a 4-2 victory.
AU goaltender Chris Sedlak was able to put together a solid game, despite the rocky stretch in the second half, picking up seven saves overall in the game.
AU will look to pick up their first road win of the season this Wednesday when they visit West Virginia University before continuing on to Hamilton, N.Y., to face PL-rival Colgate on Saturday.
