WENHAM, Mass.—Three different Scots scored goals in the first half as Gordon Men's Soccer opened up the North Shore Invitational with an impressive 3-1 win over Utica at the Brigham Athletic Complex on Friday night. Freshman
Ian Burkhart (Lancaster, Pa.) had a goal and an assist in his home debut to lead the Fighting Scots to 2-0 on the season.
Both offenses came hot out of the gate in a quick first half, as
Caleb Cole (Coatesville, Pa.) nailed a post just a minute into the contest. Utica took over control of the game for the next 10 minutes and forcing a couple of close calls for Gordon keeper
Josh Spoonhour (Greencastle, Pa.).
However, Gordon settled into a groove not soon after thanks to a goal from senior
Evan Crocker (Akron, Ohio). Traffic on the left side eventually pushed a ball out to Burkhart in the midfield, who was able to send a pass across the face of the goal to a wide-open Crocker. With only the keeper to beat, Crocker sliced a ball past the hand of Nick Hallett (Adams, N.Y.).
Only two minutes later, Burkhart scored a goal for himself. Midfielder
Josh Cochran (Bellville, Ohio) found a streaking Burkhart from 40-yards out and the freshman was able to spin a header past the approaching Hallett in the 15
th minute.
Utica seemingly grabbed some momentum back when they made the Fighting Scots for an error in the back. Justin Schray (Oxford, N.Y.) corralled an errant Gordon pass and chipped the ball away from Spoonhour for the easy goal.
The Fighting Scots countered right back with a penalty kick opportunity in the 27
th minute.
Andy Guthrie (Beaver Falls, Pa.) continued his string of PK makes with a strong attempt to the right side.
The defenses settled down in the second half after 14 shots in the opening 45 minutes, although Hallett made four impressive saves in the second half to keep Gordon from adding more. He finished with five for the game. Spoonhour notched two saves in each period.
The Pioneers switch venues to Endicott for the conclusion of the North Shore Invitational tomorrow evening, while Gordon hosts No. 16 Calvin at 7 p.m. Calvin and Endicott drew a scoreless tie on Friday.