NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men's soccer team defeated Binghamton 3-0 in the Gaels' home opener on Saturday afternoon. Mauro Bravo, Esad Mackic and Ignacio Antequera-Sanchez all scored in the win for the Maroon & Gold.

GAME SUMMARY

Iona opened up the match with two solid scoring opportunities on corner kicks. Just three minutes into the match, the Gaels' Lenworth Lopez and Sanchez each tried a header on a corner but had their tries knocked up and over the crossbar by Mats Roorda.
 
After an uneventful 15 minutes, Mackic would turn up the heat offensively. He rattled off three shots on net in a four-minute span, one of which banged off the crossbar. 25 minutes into the match, the Maroon & Gold had registered seven shots.
 
Giuliano Santucci was tested just before the 30-minute mark of the first half, making two stops on shots from Matthew Cozetti and Sean Molloy. The Gaels would continue their onslaught of shots, trying five more times before the conclusion of the first half. Roorda and Binghamton held strong though, and the game entered halftime scoreless.
 
It would take just over eight minutes into the second half before the Gaels would finally get on the board. Bravo scored past the keeper on the far side after a give-and-go pass from Mackic. Bravo's score made it 1-0 and opened up the floodgates for Iona's offense.
 
Two minutes later, Nacho Sanchez fired a bouncing ball inside the box into the back of the net and made it 2-0. Bravo sent the corner kick chance towards the box where it deflected off of the foot of Lopez and landed in a perfect spot for Sanchez to finish.
 
Then, seven minutes after Sanchez's first collegiate goal, Mackic scored to make it a 3-0 game in favor of the Maroon & Gold. Bravo returned the favor this time, assisting on Mackic's second score of the season.
 
The Gaels locked down on the defensive side over the final 30 minutes to secure the shutout, the first of the season for Santucci and the team. Iona improved to 2-2-0 with the victory and continued its recent dominance at Mazzella Field.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Sanchez and Bravo both scored for the first time this season. For Sanchez, it was also his first collegiate goal.
• Mackic scored for the second straight contest and amassed a career-high nine shots. The sophomore ripped seven shots in the first period of action.
• Santucci made five saves in net for the Maroon & Gold. The clean sheet was the first of the season for Iona.
• The Gaels out-shot the Bearcats 20-11. 13 of Iona's 20 shots came in just the first half.
• Joseph Cusano made his first start of the 2019 season for Iona on the backline. Christian Geddes, Mac Naggar and Enzo Sangiacomo made their season-debuts for the Maroon & Gold.
• Iona is 8-1-1 at Mazzella Field dating back to September 8 of last year.

UP NEXT

Iona travels to Fairfield, CT on Wednesday for a 4 PM matchup with Sacred Heart University.

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