The University of Scranton men’s soccer team knew it was facing a strong defensive team in Cortland State, which entered Saturday night with four straight shutouts. The Red Dragons proved their defensive toughness with a 1-0 victory over the Royals at Fitzpatrick Field.

Scranton (4-2-1) had opportunities, getting off 14 shots, including nine in the second half, but could not break through against the Red Dragons (5-2), who set a school record with their fifth straight shutout.

Cortland State scored the game’s only goal in the 59th minute when sophomore midfielder Daniel Friend (Deer Park, N.Y./Deer Park) got free down the left wing and rifled home a shot from 18 yards out after taking a feed from senior midfielder Darren McCormack (Dublin, Ireland/Fingal Community).

Sophomore goalkeeper Eric Hintz (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) made four saves in goal for Scranton, which had three corner kicks to Cortland State’s four.

Senior midfielder Tom O’Connor (Great River, N.Y./St. John the Baptist), sophomore defender Matthew Busch (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah), sophomore forward Henry Bonilla (Fairless Hills, Pa./The Pennington School) and freshman forward A.J. Nardone (Dallas, Pa./Dallas) had two shots apiece for the Royals.

Scranton returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 23, when the Royals travel to Ithaca, N.Y. to take on Ithaca at 4 p.m. 

--ROYALS--