Sophomore midfielder Michael Romano (Freehold, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) and freshman forward Henry Bonilla (Fairless Hills, Pa./The Pennington School) scored goals as The University of Scranton men’s soccer team pushed its unbeaten streak to eight with a 2-1 victory over Ithaca on Wednesday evening at Fitzpatrick Field.

The Royals’ eight-match unbeaten streak to start the season is their second-longest since 1993. They won 13 straight to open last season when they finished 17-3-2 and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

In a back-and-forth game that saw plenty of speed and physical play, the Royals (5-0-3) struck first when Romano scored in the 32^nd minute. Senior forward John Spadaro (Stony Point, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) beat the Ithaca keeper to a ball in the right corner of the box and sent a pass toward the front of the goal where Romano was able to corral it and beat a defender for his first goal of the season and third of his career.

Bonilla added an important insurance goal in the 55^th minute on a perfectly placed corner kick by freshman midfielder Michael Bergen (Newtown, Pa./The Pennington School). Bergen’s kick sailed right to the front post, where Bonilla’s header from a couple yards out was on the mark for his first career goal.

Ithaca got within striking distance with a goal in the 61^st minute when junior forward Casey Williamson (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) tapped in the rebound of a shot by freshman forward Sean Forward (Dover, Mass.).

Scranton outshot Ithaca, 23-12, as 10 different players had at least one shot. The Royals also held a 5-4 edge in corner kicks. Freshman goalkeeper Eric Hintz (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor) made four saves, including a leaping deflection over the crossbar of a long shot that preserved Scranton’s lead in the final 15 minutes.

The victory improves Scranton to 4-3-1 all-time against Ithaca. It’s the Royals’ first victory over the Bombers since a 2-0 victory on Sept. 7, 1986.

Scranton opens Landmark Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 28, when it travels to Huntingdon, Pa. to face Juniata at 3:30 p.m.

--ROYALS--