Box Score Box Score
MADISON, N.J. – It did not take long for the Susquehanna men's soccer team to jump out to a lead against Drew University and the Crusaders eventually went on to a 2-1 Landmark Conference road win over the Rangers.
SU scored less than four minutes into the game and never once trailed. The win improves the team's record to 6-3-1 while also giving the squad a 2-1-0 mark in Landmark Conference play.
The Crusaders nearly doubled the Rangers (7-3-1, 0-1-1) in shots (16-9) with Andrew Murphy (Natick, Mass./Natick) accounting for five of those shots. Murphy finished with one goal while teammate Paul Siekmann (Washington Crossing, Pa./Council Rock North) recorded SU's other goal.
Goalie Matt Salsman (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove Area) surrendered just one goal in his 90 minutes of work while finishing with three saves in the process.
At the 3:41 mark of the first half, Siekmann netted his second goal of the season for the early 1-0 Crusader lead. Less than three minutes later, though, Drew's Matthew Gragnano countered with a game-tying score.
It remained 1-1 for the next 19-plus minutes before Murphy broke the tie with a goal in the 26th minute for a 2-1 game, which remained the score at halftime.
The Crusaders fired off six shots within the first 12 minutes of the second half and would go on to finish with 11 shots in the half but none found the back of the net. Fortunately, the SU defense also kept the Rangers off the scoreboard while limiting them to only four shots all period to preserve the 2-1 win for Susquehanna.
SU remains on the road to face Penn State-Harrisburg on Oct. 9 at 6 p.m.
