BENNINGTON, VT – Sophomore Heriberto Gomez recorded his first goal and assist of the season in Sage's 3-0 victory over Southern Vermont Wednesday night.
The Gators went on the offensive early in the game getting off eight uncontested shots in the first 25 minutes.
Southern Vermont's (0-6-0, 0-0 NECC) first offensive opportunity came in the 26th minute off a wide Sean Deegan shot from 20 yards out.
Sage (4-2-2, 0-0-1 Skyline) continued to push on the other end of the field until freshman River Seybolt found the back of the net on a Gomez cross to put the Gators up 1-0 going into halftime.
It looked as though the tides would change in the second half as the Mountaineers earned an early corner kick and an Anthony Dominguez shot shortly after, but senior TJ Zehner came up with his first save of the game.
Ten minutes later, the Gators added to their lead with a goal by sophomore Kevin Saar on a through pass from freshman Liam Hayes.
Southern Vermont's best opportunity of the day came in the 76th minute when Jonathan Nordh got the ball 15 yards away from Zehner and fired a strong shot to the corner. The senior made a diving save and kept the Mountaineers off the scoreboard.
With just under three minutes left in regulation, Gomez scored his first goal of the season to ensure a 3-0 vicotry.
Zehner (4-2-2) and the Gator defense of Kyle LeClerc, Andrew Bartoah, Paul Reynoso, Luis Teran, James Fitzpatrick and Joe Diano recorded their third shutout of the season. Zehner still leads in shutouts among Skyline goalies.
Seybolt, Sean Lanza and Sarpong Adjei combined for 14 of the 28 Gator shots.
Mountaineer goalie Noah Chani led the game with 10 saves while Zehner recorded two.
The Gators go back to conference play on Fri., Sept. 25 as they travel to Maritime for a 5:00 p.m. contest.
