HAMBURG, N.Y. – Ryan Valentine was credited with his first double-digit save performance of the season, but Hilbert wasn't able to match La Roche's offensive production as the Hawks fell 2-0 in men's soccer this afternoon.
Hilbert (2-8-1) honored their 11 seniors prior to the start of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference contest.
La Roche (7-5-1) found the back of the net in the seventh minute thanks to a curving ball which found Kiko Alejandre's head off a strong corner kick.
The Redhawks added their second goal of the day at 44:53 when they beat Valentine in a crowded box. The ball was served to the front of the frame, deflected off several players until Ty Savochka's sent it over the goal line with just seven seconds till half time.
Defensively, La Roche shrunk the field and kept Hilbert's offensive attack under wraps. The Redhawks drew the Hawks offside five times in the first half by playing tight to the midfield line.
It wasn't until the 77th minute that the Hawks found some offensive punch.
Travis Hicks fed
Paul Caterina a great ball which turned into a hard point-blank shot. Austin Gorman was credited with La Roche's first save on Hilbert's first shot of the game.
Ryan Schupp followed-up on the rebound and his shot went wide out of bounds.
In the 79th minute, Caterina's second shot on goal was blocked which gave the Hawks their third corner kick in the half.
Garrett Rehner unleased a hard shot outside the 18 which Gorman turned into his second save of the game.
Ryan Valentine made seven saves in the first half and collected six in the second period earning his 5th double-digit save game, one save shy of tying his career best effort.
Hilbert (0-4-1) will close the home portion of their 2016 regular season schedule when they host Penn State Behrend (3-0-1) on Tuesday, October 11 in a 4:15pm start. The Hawks have three more AMCC games on the road and one non-conference road test. Hilbert will travel to Mt. Aloysius (1-3), D'Youville (0-5) and Greensburg (0-3) before their game at Alfred State (Oct 25).
