HAMILTON, N.Y.  – Second-half goals from sophomore Nick Williams and freshman Spencer Goldstein helped the Army men’s soccer team hold on for 2-1 Patriot League victory over Colgate on Wednesday evening at Beyer-Small ’76 Field.

Army improves to 4-4-3 overall and 1-2-0 in the conference following the win, while Colgate drops to 4-5-1 and 1-2-0.

Army appeared to score the game’s first goal in the 18th minute before being called offside just after the ball crossed into the net. Sophomore Ethan Spivack had a decent scoring chance in the 30th minute after beating a Colgate defender, but sent a shot wide of the right post less than a minute after coming in off the bench.

Army junior Cameron Niccum halted a pair of Colgate scoring chances in the opening half for a Black Knight defense that faced six shots in the period. Niccum headed away a threatening cross in the 23rd minute before stopping a shot by Colgate sophomore Ethan Kutler in the 39th minute that was arced toward the right post after Kutler got past Army senior goalkeeper Winston Boldt.

The Raiders held a 6-2 lead in shots at the halftime break, but the Black Knights controlled the tempo for most of the second half, owning an 11-6 shot advantage in the period.

Boldt made two of his three saves early in the second half on shots by sophomore Colin O’Neill and Kutler in the 47th and 48th minutes, respectively, to keep the score 0-0.

Army broke the scoreless tie in the 54th minute when sophomore Christian Ollen delivered a quick pass to senior Sean Mogan who dribbled around a defender before crossing to a wide open Williams, who tapped the ball in at the right post for his second tally of the year.

The Black Knights kept the pressure on, as they held a 7-1 advantage in shots over the ensuing 19:36 while maintaining possession in their attacking third for long stretches of time.

Goldstein and Spivack had shots on goal seven seconds apart in the 74th minute that were saved by Colgate goalie Ricky Brown before the pair connected on Army’s second goal of the game to put the visitors in front, 2-0. Spivack intercepted a Colgate throw-in and passed the ball around Brown to Goldstein who scored his first career goal from the center of the 18-yard box in the 74th minute.

Colgate cut its deficit in half less than two minutes later when freshman Jared Stroud lofted a shot into the upper right corner on an assist from Kutler in the 76th minute.

The Black Knights were able to hold on for the victory as each team managed one shot apiece in the remaining 14:12.

“This is three points on the road against a very good team,” said Army head coach Russell Payne. “We really helped ourselves in the second half with two well-earned goals against a very competitive Colgate side. We got three points on the road in the league and that’s about as big as it gets.”

Army returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Loyola in a Patriot League match at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Army improves to 34-24-5 all-time against Colgate … Wednesday marked Army’s second consecutive win over Colgate and its first victory at Colgate since 1993 … freshman Spencer Goldstein scored his first career goal, which came as the game winner … the Black Knights improve to 3-1-1 on the road this season.

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