HAMBURG, N.Y. –
Wade Bergum had a foot in every score today as he helped lead Hilbert College to a 3-1 victory over Thiel College in men's soccer.
The Hawks captured their first win of the season (1-4) giving
Selim Talbi his first collegiate victory as a head coach and they dropped Thiel to 1-3-1.
"I am happy for the players today because it has been a long way since preseason started, and even though there has been frustration, they kept working hard together," shared coach Talbi. "I am very happy because they understood and they followed our game plan today. I encourage them to share, enjoy and congratulate each other but tomorrow we will continue to focus on improving so we can start strong when conference play begins in two weekends."
Hilbert got on board early.
Daniel Pulaski sent a ball to the front of the frame and
Wade Bergum stretched his leg out, hoping to make contact. His foot redirected the ball past the Tomcat goalie in the third minute.
The Hawks stayed strong, played quick and made extra passes always looking for the right time to go long. Bergum made a touch pass to feed
Travis Hicks on a breakaway for his first score of the season at 31:33. Hicks had a similar opportunity in the 38th minute but the visiting goalie made a great point-blank save.
After intermission,
Nicolas Rodriguez earned his first collegiate goal with a hard shot to the lower left corner. Bergum set him up with another soft feed in stride for the open look at the frame at 56:38.
Ryan Valentine made a great diving save with about 10 minutes left in the game. He judged the restart kick that rocketed over the Hawks wall towards the left side of the goal and punched it out of bounds. But Thiel snuck a ball past
Ryan Valentine in the 86th minute when a broken play in front of the net prevented the Hawks' keeper from earning a shutout.
Thiel outshot Hilbert 17-12 but the royal and white were more accurate with an 8 to 7 advantage with shots on goal.
Matthew Barth and Bergum each took a pair of shots on goal as Hicks led the Hawks with three shots.
Hilbert returns to action this Saturday with their final test before AMCC action begins. The Hawks will host St. Vincent in a 3:15 kick.
