ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick leading scorer Troy Amegashie (Accra, Ghana/Tema International School) tallied twice in the second half to propel Hartwick's men's soccer team to a big 2-0 victory over future Empire 8 Conference opponent Elmira College Saturday night on Elmore Field.
           
Amegashie scored what would prove to be the game-winner just 53 seconds into the second half to push the Hawks ahead. He then capped the win off at 80:48 with an outstanding individual effort.
           
With the win, the Hawks up their season mark to 3-10. The Soaring Eagles, who entered the game with three straight shutout wins, drop to 9-4-2.
           
Hartwick would fight off nine Elmira corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes of play. Elmira would register seven of the first half's nine shots, with three of them reaching the target, but starting goalkeeper Aidan Wholihan (Annapolis, MD/St. Mary's Annapolis) handled each of them for a 0-0 stalemate at the break.
           
The first goal came following a clearance from back Alex Charest (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker). It went to the right side to Joey Bertone (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) who dribbled into Elmira territory and hit the ball across the field to Amegashie roughly 25 yards from goal. Amegashie dashed into the box with the ball, out-muscled a Soaring Eagle defender on a cutback, and drove a ball underneath EC keeper Xavier Townsend inside the far post for the 'Wick lead.
           
Both teams would have opportunities over the next 35 minutes with Elmira (7) and Hartwick (4) combining for 11 shots in the span. But the next goal wasn't until the 81^st when Amegashie stripped an Elmira player of the ball 80 yards from the Soaring Eagle goal. He carried the ball into the Elmira end and blew past multiple players, including the final defender, before unleashing a left-footed bomb into the lower left corner that all but put the game away. It marked Amegashie's eighth goal, tied for second-most in the E8 this season.
           
The Soaring Eagles only registered a couple more shots the rest of the way. Only one forced a save from reserve keeper Britt Reisman (Vero Beach, FL/Saint Edward's School) who played the final 5:38 in goal to preserve the team clean sheet. Wholihan did the bulk of the work playing 84:22 making five saves.
           
Elmira finished the match with advantages in shots (17-8) and corners (13-2). Townsend made three saves in a losing effort.
           
Hartwick looks for its second win in a row next Friday night as the Hawks travel to Sage for an 8 p.m. match.
           
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