The Emory men's soccer team (2-2-1) got their weekend in Colorado started on the right foot, taking down the UT Dallas Comets, 4-1, on Friday evening. Eight different Eagles registered at least one point in the win. The game was played at Colorado College's Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Eagles came out of the gate firing, ripping 10 shots in the first half. Yet, it was not until the 31
st minute that the Eagles found the back of the net, when senior
Sebastian Rincon knocked in a feed from sophomore
Julian Hee to take a 1-0 lead over the Comets.
The two remained stagnant for the remainder of the first half, with the Eagles going into the half with a 1-0 lead. The Emory backline held the Comets to just three shots in the half, with junior goalkeeper
Keirnan Skelly needing to save just one of these attempts.
The opening five minutes of the half were hectic, with each team being awarded a penalty kick. At the 49:14 mark UTD's Riley O'Donnell snuck one by Skelly to break even and tie it up at one goal apiece. Less than 40 seconds later, the Eagles had a penalty kick of their own, but Anthony Alston squandered the attempt to keep it tied. The Eagles kept the pressure on, taking five shots over the course of the next seven minutes. It wasn't until the 58
th minute when they snuck one past Alston, though, when senior
Attila Sepkin collected a pass from junior
Josh Grand to take a 2-1 lead. This was Sepkin's first goal as an Emory Eagle.
The Eagles took Sepkin's goal and did not look back. A trio of Ryans made some magic happen just four minutes later when senior
Ryan Hayes scored his first goal of the season on a double assist from graduate transfers
Ryan Nichols and
Ryan Winkler. The assists from Nichols and Winkler were the first of their Emory careers. Sophomore
Lorenzo Avalos added one more goal for good measure in the 81
st minute to extend the score to 4-1. This was Avalos' team-leading third goal of the season.
The Eagles sat on the ball for the remaining minutes as Emory coasted into a 4-1 win. The Eagles outshot the Comets 22-9 in the match.
Emory will wrap up its trip to Colorado with a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament Second Round against No. 7 ranked Colorado College. The tilt with the Tigers will get started at 9:30 PM (ET) at Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
