Canton, NY – The SUNY Canton men's soccer team used three early first half scores to defeat visiting Elmira College 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon at home. The win improves the Roos to 9-4-1 and 6-1-1 in their last eight games, while the Soaring Eagles drop to 0-10-2 on the season.
 
Sixteen minutes into the contest the Roos had the first good scoring opportunity as Abdulai Jagana (Bronx, NY) played a through ball up the middle to Devin Gruneisen (Potsdam, NY). Gruneisen kicked the ball just wide of the left post as Elmira goalkeeper Jordan Dougherty came charging out of goal.
 

Three minutes later the Roos got on the board first on an own goal by Elmira. A defender played the ball back to Dougherty who attempted to clear the ball but had it spin back over his head into the open net.
 
Two minutes later the Roos were on the attack again on a beautiful through ball from Hunter Mowery (Elizabethtown, NY) up the middle to Gruneisen who went in on a breakaway. He hit the ball firmly but it went well high of his intended target.
 
At the 25:22 mark SUNY Canton made it 2-0 on a goal from Jagana. Nick Escalante (Whittier, CA) had an initial shot that was saved but the rebound went right to Jagana who put it home for the two-goal lead.
 
With 13:30 left in the half Patrick Annziatta (Schenectady, NY) came up huge as Tony Barraco played a quick cross in from the right end line to Ronaldo Charlton. Charlton blasted a shot upper 90 in the center of net but Anunziatta reached up to tip the ball over the goal.
 
With 8:30 remaining in the opening stanza the Roos used another strong counterattack as Escalante fed Jagana in on the break. He took a big dribble to evade a charging Dougherty but the touch took him almost to the end line as his kick back toward net struck off the left post.
 
SUNY Canton made it 3-1 with 2:54 remaining as Gruneisen broke through. Josh Geller (Monroe, NY) made an on point pass in tight quarters to Tyler Gallagher (Potsdam, NY) at the top left of the 18-yard box. Gallagher ripped a shot into the right corner as Dougherty made a great diving save to his left. Gruneisen was in the right spot at the top of the 8-yard box striking home his third goal of the season. SUNY Canton led 3-1 at intermission.
 

Midway through the second half Randy Mayer (Akron, NY) had a shot that missed just wide left of goal. The Roos had a defensive breakdown a couple minutes later as Ryan Bertsch was left open at the top of the 18 missing just outside the left post.
 
With just over seven minutes remaining the Roos used a quick counterattack to add a fourth score. Jordan Barriere (Chazy, NY) fed a ball up the right sideline to Geller. He quickly found Matt Malchoff (Clyde, NY) to his left. Malchoff hit a perfect ball to the top left of the 18 where Escalante hit a one-timer into the left corner of the net for his 15th goal of the season.
 
SUNY Canton controlled shots (22-13) and shots on goal (12-3). Anunziatta turned aside two shots in his sixth win of the season. Dougherty made eight saves for the Soaring Eagles. Eight different Roos posted a shot on goal in the contest.
 
The men's soccer team is off until Sunday when they will travel to take on Alfred University beginning at 3:00 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the SUNY Canton Athletics department by "liking" us on Facebook and "following" our Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts.
 
About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as eight exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 14 athletic teams compete as provisional members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.