Brett Harder's 2nd Half Goal Lifts Hounds Past Juniata, 2-1
October 10, 2015

Brett Harder's 2nd Half Goal Lifts Hounds Past Juniata, 2-1

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior forward Brett Harder scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 53rd minute to break a 1-1 tie and lead the Moravian College men’s soccer team to a 2-1 Landmark Conference victory over visiting Juniata College on the HUB Quad Saturday afternoon.

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior forward Brett Harder scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 53rd minute to break a 1-1 tie and lead the Moravian College men's soccer team to a 2-1 Landmark Conference victory over visiting Juniata College on the HUB Quad Saturday afternoon.

"It's a big win. We needed the three points, and being able to come out and win at home is always a good thing," stated Head Coach Todd Ervin. "We're at seven points now so hopefully we're sitting at a good spot in the conference."

The Greyhounds struck quickly for the opening goal of the match on the first shot of the contest just 3:33 into action. Freshman midfielder Chris Caso took a corner kick for the Hounds and placed the ball near the top of the six-yard box. Sophomore midfielder Connor Phillips was able to get a head on the ball and send it towards the left post where is glanced off of a Juniata defender and into the back of the net for Phillips' sixth goal of the season.

The Blue and Grey nearly extended the lead two minutes later when freshman midfielder Lucas Cunha had a shot saved. However, it was the Eagles that scored next with a goal in the 13th minute to tie the match. The match would remained tied at the intermission while both squads put two shots on goal before halftime with sophomore midfielder Brett Lubben and senior defender Matthew Gandy picking up shots for Moravian and senior goalie Brian Boland making two saves.

Boland came up with two early saves in the second half to keep the score tied while junior midfielder Ian Larimer put a shot on the keeper. In the 53rd minute, Larimer slipped a pass through on the right side to Harder, who settled the ball inside the 18-yard box and fired a shot past a diving keeper into the net.

"I got a really nice ball from Ian, and I just took a good first touch where I needed to and then buried it," Harder said. "This win was really important against Juniata since it is the first time we've beaten them in my four years. It really shows where the program is moving forward. These are some wins that we need to capitalize on."

Harder is just the second player to net eight goals in a season during the last 10 seasons for the Greyhounds, joining Jeff Algor, who scored 13 times in 2013.

"When you're on, your're on and right now Connor and Brett are on," Ervin commented. "It is great that they are getting it done and putting the ball in the net, and we're going to continue to look to them to score."

While that ended up being the final goal of the match, both teams would have chances. Senior midfielder Shane Harder ripped a shot off of the left post in the 66th minute for the Greyhounds, while Phillips had a pair of shots on goal and junior defender Austin van-Spanje, junior midfielder David Tate and freshman forward Koshane Marshall each fired off one shot on the goalie. Juniata hit a pot with a header in the 77th minute to nearly tie the match.

Both teams took 15 shots in the match with Boland coming up with six saves for the Hounds. Boland is now seventh in school history with 257 career saves, and he also earned his 21st career victory.

"Our defensive guys played smarter today than they have recently, and that was one of the things that we've been asking them to do," noted Ervin. "The more intelligent they are when the have time with the ball at their feet, the more that they can distribute the ball effectively and put us in positions where we can keep the ball in the offensive third of the field."

Moravian is slated to return to action on Wednesday, October 14 when the squad hosts rival Muhlenberg College in a Matte Award contest starting at 3:30 p.m. on the HUB Quad.