The Hoyas will be floating on cloud nine after their nine-goal haul this weekend, soaring above Davidson 3-0 and Hartford 6-0 to win the first two home games of the season. They maintained a perfect start to the season with four wins, no losses and a perfect, 360-minute clean sheet.

Davidson was unable to penetrate the Hoya back four last Friday, thanks to another solid showing between the posts by sophomore goalkeeper Matt Brutto and brilliant partnership by the back four.

“The scoreboard is a testament to the back four,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “They’re putting in a lot of effort. Big Lenny [junior Len Coleman] and Big Verdi [sophomore Alex Verdi] are doing great. And [junior] Mark Zeman is being a captain back there, doing his job.”

The Hoyas were off to an early start in the game, the first goal coming just nine minutes into play. Sophomore midfielder Ibukun Otegbeye brought the ball up from defense and fed sophomore midfielder Seth C’deBaca, whose cross from the right wing found the feet of sophomore forward Chandler Diggs. Diggs one-timed it into the back of the net.

The Hoyas had to wait until the second half to grab their next goal. Senior midfielder Corey Zeller, who had been steering the midfield for the majority of the game, broke free into some space up front and curled a long shot beautifully past the keeper’s gloves into the top right-hand corner in the 50th minute.

Play got a little dirty thereafter, with rough challenges coming in from both sides -Davidson recorded four fouls in the second half, topped by the Hoyas’ eight – and Coleman was shown the yellow for dissent in the 72nd minute of play.

“It’s frustrating when [the referees] don’t give you an explanation for their call,” Coleman said. “But stuff like that happens in a game, and you have to get over obstacles to make sure you win the game.”

With just 38 seconds remaining in play, sophomore forward Jose Colchao, whose efforts up front had been denied over and over again during the half, received a long ball from Otegbeye and pushed it past the keeper – who had come off his line – to score the Hoyas’ third and his personal first intercollegiate goal for the Blue and Gray.

“It was a feeling of relief at the very end of the game,” Colchao said of his goal in the dying minutes of play. “It felt great to get that goal.”

Although the scoreboard boasted a heavy victory for the Hoyas, the coach was careful when evaluating the team’s performance.

“To be honest, I thought in the first half, there was something missing in the team,” Wiese said. “The game kind of flattened out. I thought the second half was a much better performance; I thought we came out a little bit sharper.”

Sunday saw the Hoyas get off to a slightly sluggish start against Hartford, the second game in three days for the home team under the scorching midday sun. Unable to find the rhythm of Friday’s game right away, the Hoyas did not create any meaningful buildup early on.

In the 25th minute of play, freshman forward Uche Onyeador took a pass from junior midfielder Scott Larrabee to put the Hoyas up 1-0.

Larrabee again was in the fray just over two minutes later, when he linked up with Diggs to set the ball up for C’deBaca, who took no time blasting it in the back of the net to double the score.

It took the Hoyas another 25 minutes into the resumption of play to score their third. Senior co-captain and midfielder Sean Bellomy sailed in a long cross from deep in the right side of the midfield. The cross was overshot, however, and the Hawk keeper watched the ball sail loftily over his head and into the top left corner of the goal.

“No, of course I intended it to go in,” Bellomy joked. “Really, I was just trying to make something happen, trying to drop it into the back post. It was probably a bit of luck that it went in. But when you play well, things happen for you. I’ll take it.”

The Hoyas scored three more goals in the final 12 minutes.

“We were very efficient with the chances we took,” Wiese said. “We scored some great goals today. And seeing another zero up on the scoreboard is great for our guys; they’re taking a lot of pride in it right now. It won’t last forever, but they’re enjoying it while it lasts.”

The Hoyas will have just a few days to recuperate before hosting Stony Brook on Wednesday.

The Hoyas will take to their home pitch for the third time in a row this Wednesday at 3 p.m.

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