Orange Tops Hartwick, 2-0

Monday, September 2

SU Soccer Stadium

7 p.m.

Syracuse University

2-0-0

Hartwick

0-1-1

Hartwick

Syracuse

Nick Perea helped preserve the win with his second-half tally.

9/2/2013 9:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Score By Period	1st	2nd	Final
Hartwick	0	0	0
Syracuse	0	2	2
Box Score \| Photos Sept. 2, 2013 \| SU Soccer Stadium / Syracuse, N.Y. \| Attendance: 1,633

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Grant Chong and Nick Perea each scored in the second half to lead the 20th-ranked SU men's soccer team (2-0-0) to a 2-0 victory against Hartwick (0-1-1) on Monday, Sept. 2 in front of 1,633 fans at the SU Soccer Stadium.

"We worked very hard tonight," said SU head coach Ian McInytre. "We have terrific support with a very knowledgeable and passionate crowd. This is a special place to play and we hope to create some excitement and score some goals, and that's what we did tonight."

Defense controlled the tempo during the first half, with neither side generating many scoring chances. Stefanos Stamoulacatos had one of the period's few offensive opportunities when his shot from outside of the box went just high of the net in the 13th minute. Perea also had a chance in the 24th minute, but could not catch up to a dangerous cross from Jordan Murrell.

The Orange eventually solved the Hartwick defense in the second half. In the 50th minute, Chong took a touch-pass from Chris Makowski just outside of the box and sent a soaring shot past the outstretched arms of Hartwick keeper Mateo Munarriz to give the Orange a 1-0 advantage.

Perea followed with a goal a little more than nine minutes later. The junior gathered a throw-in from Murrell and sent a screamer past Munarriz, giving the Orange a 2-0 lead.

Defensively, the Orange was stellar once again, limiting the Hawks to two shots in the match (none on goal). The Syracuse back four of Murrell, Makowski, Skylar Thomas and Oyvind Alseth did not allow a shot attempt in the second half.

SU goalkeeper Alex Bono earned his 12th career clean sheet, which is tied with Steve Pollnow (1988-91) for seventh on the program's all-time shutout list. Bono was not forced to make a save.

Munarriz finished with two saves for the Hawks.

The Orange hits the road for its inaugural ACC match Friday, Sept. 6 at Virginia Tech. SU and the Hokies will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Field in Blacksburg. The game represents Syracuse's first ACC contest in any sport.

Match Notes: The Orange recorded its second straight shutout to start the year … It's the second season in a row SU has opened the season with back-to-back clean sheets ... The 1,633 fans on hand represented the third-largest crowd in SU Soccer Stadium history … Chong's goal was his first since Oct. 29, 2011 against DePaul.