ATLANTA, GA – Hamish Ritchie (Aberdeen, Scotland/Aboyne Academy) and Maurizio Fornerino (Maracaibo, Venezuela/International School of Brunei) scored second-half goals as the fourth-seeded Hartwick’s men’s soccer team advanced to tomorrow’s Sun Belt Conference semifinals with a 2-1 victory over fifth-seeded Appalachian State Thursday afternoon at GSU Soccer Complex in Atlanta, GA.
            With the victory, the Hawks improve to 9-5-4 overall. They have now eliminated the Mountaineers in each of the last three seasons and improve to 3-0-2 against them since joining the conference.
            ’Wick now takes on top seed Coastal Carolina tomorrow at 3 p.m. with a berth in Sunday’s final on the line.

            The Mountaineers had the first opportunity of the match just over seven minutes in as Daniel Avila one-timed a short corner, ripping his shot from just outside the penalty area off the crossbar.
            Johnny McBeth (Glasgow, Scotland/Upper Iowa) would get the first shot on goal for the Hawks with 15 and a half minutes left in the half. He ran onto a flicked pass and got into the box, but put his left-footed shot right at App State goalkeeper Jake Agnew.
            Three minutes later the Hawks had another chance. Mike Rood (Conklin, NY/Susquehanna Valley). laid the ball off in the box for Jack Donaldson (Paisley, Scotland/Mars Hill University) but he launched his shot over the crossbar.

            Rood had a glancing header go wide off a Kane O’Neill (Lochwinnoch, Scotland/Gryffe) service with five and a half minutes remaining before halftime but the game went scoreless after 45 minutes. The Hawks, who controlled much of the half possession-wise, finished with a 4-2 edge in shots. Both teams earned a corner.
            Early in the second half, Hartwick fired the first shot. O’Neill on the right side of the Mountaineer goal, crossed for Rood whose volley sailed high. Five minutes later, App State had a good chance after winning a Hartwick clearance. Stephen Chapman took a short pass in the 18 only to have a ’Wick defender close him down and catch a piece of his shot to force it out for a corner.
            Hartwick earned a corner with under 23 minutes remaining and made good on it. Donaldson provided the service to the near post to an unmarked Ritchie. The Sun Belt Co-Freshman of the Year headed home to beat Agnew for the valuable 1-0 lead.  
            The Hawks continued to press as Marc Berry (Galashiels, Scotland/Galashiels Academy) had a long-range effort saved by Agnew and he nearly got on the end of a through ball from Donaldson seconds later.
            With 10:01 showing on the clock, the Hawks got an insurance goal. Rood found an open Fornerino in the box. He had time to turn, face the goalkeeper, and then buried his shot low to the far corner for his first tally in a Hartwick uniform.

            The Mountaineers drew one back with 4:46 left in the contest. Rian Phillips’ touch off a cross repositioned the ball right on the foot of Graham Smalley at the far post. Smalley put it away for a 2-1 game.
            The Mountaineers had two final opportunities to tie the match, one with three minutes left, and one with 90 seconds to go. Both were services into the box following fouls near midfield. The first was squandered by a pass out of bounds and the second was gobbled up harmlessly by Lenny Wilson (Aberdeen, Scotland/Cults Academy) as the Hawks secured a place in the semifinal.
            Hartwick finished with a 10-6 edge in shots and a 5-3 advantage in corners. Wilson was called upon to make just one save to secure the victory in goal. Agnew would stop three shots for Appalachian State.

            The Hawks will be making their third consecutive appearance in the semifinals. They take on a Chanticleers team they defeated by a 1-0 final score on Elmore Field on October 8.

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