SUNY Brockport Men’s Soccer secured a spot in the Empire 8 semi-finals following a 4–0 victory over Russell Sage College. Sophomore Khadim Amar found the back of the net late in the opening half which carried over to the second in a three-goal half.
The scoring opened late in the first half when sophomore Khadim Amar found the back of the net in the 42nd minute, assisted by senior Brady Reinagel. Brockport outshot the Gators 12–4 in the opening 45.
“It was a good game. The goal in the first half was really important,” Amar said. “It helped us manage the game in the second half, and we did a lot better in the second half to get three more goals. We got to take it one by one, win the next one and take it off to the final.”
Freshman Ryan Mathis converted a penalty kick in the 69th minute to double the lead. Just four minutes later, Reinagel added a third goal off an assist from senior Alex Rivara. Mathis and Reinagel are the squad’s highest scoring Golden Eagles with six goals so far this season.
Junior Jadin Lyle added a goal with an unassisted strike in the 88th minute, sealing Brockport’s ninth conference win. The Golden Eagles outshot Russell Sage 8–2 in the second half.
“It feels good,” Lyle said. “We had a good week of practice. Hopefully we keep going, we have practice to beat Elmira on Wednesday, and we can win the whole thing and see how far we can get in the end.”
Sophomore goalkeeper AJ Nelson recorded his 11th start and third shutout of the season, making three key saves to preserve the clean sheet.
“I think that we were a little bit nervous in the first half,” Brockport men’s soccer team Head Coach Gary LaPietra said. “Obviously, a couple of guys have never played in the playoff game before, so little jitters. Khadim’s (Amar) goal at the end of the first half was really big for us to settle this down. In the second half, we finished our chances. Brady (Reinagel) worked so hard to win that PK for us, and then everything just settled down. Really proud of the way these guys played. The best thing about our team is they are very close to one another and they play for one another.”
The No. 2 Golden Eagles advance to the semifinals and will host No. 3 Elmira College on Wednesday, November 5. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
