Emory overtakes Tartan men’s soccer team 4–0
The 17th-ranked Emory Eagles overpowered the Carnegie Mellon men’s soccer team Saturday in University Athletic Association (UAA) action, beating the Tartans 4–0 to wrap up the regular season for both teams.
The hosting Eagles improve to 16–2 overall and finish 6–1 in the UAA, good for second place only to Rochester. The Tartans finish the regular season at 9–5–2 and 0–5–2 in the UAA, good for seventh place.
The Emory duo of Patrick Carver and Patrick McFarland kept up their torrid offensive statistics against the Tartans on Saturday. Each notched a pair of goals, giving Carver a UAA-leading 16 on the season, with McFarland close behind with 12 goals and a UAA-high 12 assists.
Carver got the Eagles on the board in the 13th minute, and McFarland scored on a rebound two and a half minutes later. The score remained at 2–0 heading into halftime with the Tartans unable to get off a shot in the first half — a testament to Emory’s defense, which has only allowed 12 goals in 18 games this season.
Carver netted his second goal of the game in the 51st minute, and McFarland knocked in his second goal of the game in the 84th minute to wrap up the scoring.
“Their players up top on offense were very good,” sophomore forward Ricky Griffin said. “They were very hard to stop one on one. Their midfielders made runs forward and their outside backs would attack and get crosses over. They’re a very dangerous team and were very hard for us to stop. It seemed like we never got possession really. They’re good at covering for each other. Their offense really helped their defense by not giving up the ball so it was hard for us to attack them.”
Carnegie Mellon junior goalkeeper Matthew Bazin stopped four shots in the loss, while Emory goalkeeper Keith Meehan made two saves en route to his sixth shutout of the season.
“Our record shows that the UAA is tough,” Griffin said. “With the exception of Saturday, we were in all those games. If a couple bounces had gone our way early in the UAA, we could have done better. Things sort of snowballed after we lost a couple games early. The UAA teams are the best teams we’ve played this year.”
The Tartans were led by Griffin’s 11 goals over the course of their 16-game regular season. Griffin and sophomore midfielder Ryan Browne tied for the team lead in assists at five.
Sophomore midfielder Jonathan Hall was second on the team in goals with five, and sophomore forward Patrick Lutz led the team with three game-winning goals. Bazin registered five shutouts during the regular season.
“We were able to beat all the teams we were supposed to beat outside of conference,” Griffin said. “The big turning point was the Rochester game. We out-shot them and we had a bunch of chances right before they scored their first goal [in the 71st minute]. Then they scored again and it was really hard to come back from that. If we win that game, we’re in a good position and they probably don’t win the UAA.”
The men’s soccer team will now wait to see if they earn a berth to the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Championships. Bids are announced today.