YORK, PA – The York College men's soccer team continued their strong start to their year with a 1-0 non-conference win over former Capital Athletic Conference rival Salisbury on Wednesday night in York.
The Spartans extended their season opening unbeaten streak to 11 games with the victory. York has won back-to-back 1-0 home matches.
York is now 7-0-4 overall while the Sea Gulls fall to 5-4-1. Salisbury has suffered back-to-back shutout loses to MAC Commonwealth teams as they were blanked 2-0 by Widener last Saturday.
 
How It Happened
• The Spartans had a great chance early as the built a run that culminated in Gavin Bealer taking a shot from the left wing. His shot beat goalie Clif Nehman but was redirected by the far post as the ball caromed back into play, keeping the game scoreless.
• The Sea Gulls had their best flurry of the game in the 30^th minute of the match. The Spartans committed a foul just outside of the box giving Salisbury a dangerous shot. Gavin Miller's free kick was stopped by Jake Bono on a sprawling save to his right. The ball went over the end line as Salisbury got a corner kick. On the corner, Connor Pyles hit a header off the cross bar and the rebound went to Tristan Brannock and Bono made another great save to keep the game scoreless. Bealer had a second great chance in the 43^rd minute as his header was stopped by Nehman, preserving the scoreless tie at the break.
• The Spartans had the better of the play after the break as they got a pair of shots three minutes into the stanza. York continued to pressure the Sea Gulls and that paid off when Colin Findlay collected a loose ball inside the midfield stripe. Findlay pushed a pass to Brayden Safley, who had just checked into the game just over a minute prior, and the senior was able to beat a pair of defenders before unleashing a shot for his second goal of the year. The goal came in the 63^rd minute of play.
• Salisbury picked up the pace but the Spartan defense was stout. Salisbury got some opportunities but Bono only had to make one more save over the final 27 minutes of the game.
• Salisbury finished the game with a 15-13 edge in total shots but York had a 4-3 margin in shots on goal. Salisbury also held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans have won two straight in the series but Salisbury still has a 28-18-6 overall advantage in the long time series … the 11-match unbeaten streak is the best streak to start the season since the 2008 squad started 18-0 … the Spartans have now won four of their last five and three straight … York's has had just six shots on goal in their last two games but are 2-0 … York has outscored their 11 opponents by a combined total of 21-7 … sophomore goalie Jake Bono improved to 6-0-3 with his second full shutout of the year … Bono only made three saves but they were all big in keeping Salisbury off the board … York now has five clean sheets as a team … the game-winning goal from Brayden Safley was his second of the year and his seventh career goal for the Spartans … York improves to 5-0-2 at home.
 
Up Next
The Spartans return to Graham Field to face off against Alvernia University in the MAC Commonwealth opener for both squads on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm. The Golden Wolves were selected to finish third in the preseason coaches poll while York was picked behind them. Alvernia has won three straight in the series.