YORK, PA – The York College men's soccer team earned the first win of the Nate Gibboney era with a 3-0 victory over Eastern Mennonite on a brilliantly sunny Sunday afternoon in York.
The win comes in game two for the Spartans after Friday's 1-1 tie with Carnegie Mellon.
The Spartans got a goal in the first half and then turned up the offense with a pair of goals ten minutes apart in the second stanza. The defense picked up their first shutout of the year as they limited EMU to just six shots in the match.
York improves to 1-0-1 overall while the Royals fall to 0-1-1.
 
How It Happened
• The first half saw the two teams go back-and-forth over the opening moments of the game. As the contest settled in, the Royals had some chances off their four corner kicks but they weren't able to get any shots on those corners. The Spartans had the better of the possession over the final 25 minutes of the stanza as they were able to pressure the Royals during that stretch.
• That pressure paid off in the 43^rd minute as Dylan Marco collected an Eastern Mennonite turnover just outside the box and slotted a brilliant strike into the back of the goal for the 1-0 Spartan lead.
• The first half was balanced statistically as York held a slight 4-3 margin in total shots and a 3-1 edge in shots on goal. The Royals had four corner kicks while the Spartans had none.
• The Spartans continued their strong play out of the break as they pushed the lead to 2-0 after a flurry in the 57^th minute. Noah Roche hit a header wide but the errant shot was collected on the right end line by Shaun Apsley. Apsley hit a great feed across the face of the goal and Roche collected the pass and drilled home the shot for the two-goal lead.
• The Green and White closed out the scoring in the 68^th minute as York put together another pretty goal. This time, senior Tyler Howlett drove the ball towards the right end line. He struck beautiful service across the goal, finding Gavin Huey on the far post and the sophomore finished the chance with his first career goal.
• The Spartans defense took over from there as they limited the Royals to three second half shots and one corner kick in preserving the shutout.
• York finished the game with a 13-6 edge in total shots and an 8-2 margin in shots on goal. The Royals did have a 5-2 margin in corner kicks.
 
Spartan Notes
York is now 4-4 all-time against the Royals as York has won three straight in the series … the match-up is the first since August 30, 2019 when the Spartans notched a 2-1 win at EMU … the Spartans had a pair of first-time goal scorers as sophomores Dylan Marco and Gavin Huey each recorded their first career tallies …  sophomore Jake Bono played the first 80 minutes of the game and recorded two saves as he picked up fourth career win in ten collegiate games … senior Noah Roche has scored in each of the Spartans' first two games … York has reached double figures in shots in both matches (12 and 13) … the Spartans have made eight saves and allowed one goal in 180 minutes of play.
 
Up Next
The Spartans head out on the road for the first time this year as they head to Chestertown, Maryland to face Washington College. Kick off is slated for 4:00 pm. The two squads have tied in each of their last two matches. The all-time series is deadlocked at 2-2-2. Washington entered the season ranked fourth in the country after going to the 2023 NCAA Division III Final Four.