AJ in full stride down the field

Pioneers Fall in Tight Battle at Houghton

Houghton scored the final four goals of the game as they rallied to defeat Alfred State 10-8 in a tight back and forth contest on Wednesday afternoon.

AJ Soto (Churchville) opened the scoring 1:22 into the game but the Highalnders answered back under a minute later when Jonathan Mayer found the back of the net. Quinn Hull made it 2-1 with just over 10 minutes left in the quarter. 

The game remained 2-1 until 3:30 into the 2nd quarter when Cole Chapman gave the Highlanders the two-goal advantage. Tyler Baker (Rome Free) scored a pair of goals to tie it up and Eric Passeck (Thomaston, CT) gave the blue & gold back the lead with 6:37 remaining with his first of the contest. Mayer scored twice in 43 seconds to make it 5-4 but Soto scored his second of the game with 2:41 left to send the game into halftime tied at 5-5.

Nic Covelli (Carmel) scored 5:41 into the 3rd quarter to give the Pioneers their third one-goal lead of the game. Daniel Williamson tied it up with an extra man goal with 6:38 left befor Soto scored with the man advantage with 3:16 left to send Alfred State into the 4th quarter with a 7-6 lead.

Nathan Crowley (West Irondequoit) scored an unasisted goal with 9:56 to give the blue & gold their bigget lead. Chapman answered back with 29 seconds left and Anderson scored with 7:50 remaining to tie it. Anderson scored the game winner with 4:04 left after getting a pass from Lyle Warrior. The Pioneers had two shots to tie the game but were unable to convert. Chapman added an insurance goal with 1:46 to seal the victory. The Highlanders won the ensuing faceoff and were able to run out the clock.

Soto scored three times and Baker found the back of the net twice. Passeck scored once and had an assist while Coveli and Crowley scored once. Matt Cobb (Churchville) made 13 saves in net.

Mayer and Chapman both had hat tricks for Houghton while Jeremy Harris made 15 saves in net to earn the win.

The Pioneers are home on Saturday when they battle SUNY Poly at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Stadium.