The University of Scranton men’s soccer team received goals from a pair of freshmen while putting the defensive clamps on Neumann University en route to a 2-0 victory at Fitzpatrick Field on Saturday afternoon.

Scranton (2-0) received goals from freshman midfielders Gavin Coutts (Mendham, N.J./West Morris Mendham) and Sean Myers (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) in the victory, the Royals’ second in less than 24 hours. They opened the season on Friday night with a 4-0 win over Penn State-Altoona.

On the defensive end, Scranton allowed only eight shots by Neumann (0-2), just one of which came after halftime. After being outshot 7-1 in the opening 45 minutes, the Royals controlled play throughout most of the second half, leading to a 5-1 advantage in shots in the second half.

Coutts put the Royals on the board when he got a head on a corner kick by junior midfielder Michael Bergen (Newtown, Pa./The Pennington School) in the 37th minute. It was Scranton’s only shot on goal of the first half.

Myers provided the insurance in the 63rd minute when he took a cross from junior forward Ryan Smith (Maple Glen, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham), who had gotten free down the left wing. Smith’s cross found Myers alone in front of the goal, and all he had to do was tap it in for the 2-0 lead.

The defense took over from there, as sophomore goalkeeper Eric Hintz (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) needed to make just one save for his sixth career shutout. Scranton received strong play along the backline from junior Michael Dorney (Avon, Conn./Avon), sophomores Matthew Busch (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) and Pat Codispoti (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade), and freshman Kyle Robbins (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) in the victory.

The Royals held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks while improving to 2-0 for the fifth time in the past seven seasons.

The Royals return to action on Saturday, Sept. 6, when they face Rutgers-Newark at 3:30 p.m. at the Haverford Kickoff Classic in Haverford, Pa. 

--ROYALS--