ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan University men's soccer team was quite aware of where it stood in the East Coast Conference standings entering Saturday's home match against the College of Staten Island.
The Redhawks sat in fourth place with eight points through six games while the Dolphins entered the contest with six points through three games. The top four teams at the end of the season qualify for the postseason, so each team was looking to gain a leg up on the other.
And that's exactly what the Redhawks did after a scoreless first half.
Junior Tamas Nagy opened the scoring in the 54^th minute and Dylan Ruiz scored twice in the final 26 minutes as Roberts (7-4-2, 3-1-2) pulled away for an impressive 3-0 victory. The Redhawks now have 11 points with two ECC games remaining while the Dolphins have six with four to play.
"The guys are fully aware of what we need to do if we want to make the postseason," Roberts coach Scott Reber said. "It was important for us to get the three points."
Roberts had a few opportunities in the first half and started to generate more scoring chances in the second half until Nagy broke through and scored his eighth goal of the season to give the Redhawks a 1-0 lead with 36:01 to play.
Justin Robertson ran through a tackle attempt in the Roberts end and fed Ruiz near midfield. Ruiz connected with Nagy near the top of the box, Nagy sidestepped the keeper and tucked the ball into the net from 18 yards out.
"It definitely was an important game," Ruiz said. "I felt like if we got the first one to fall that more would come."
And they did.
Ruiz upped the advantage to 2-0 with 25:49 to play. He gathered the ball at the top of the box, turned and took a right-footed shot that eluded the keeper.
Ruiz added his team leading ninth of the season on a penalty kick with 17:12 remaining after teammate Marc-Anthony Blackburn was taken down in the box. Ruiz ran up to the ball and – with the keeper diving to his right - drove it into the left side of the net for his school-record 59^th career goal.
Roberts outshot CSI 18-7, but still needed some clutch play from goalkeeper Jared Gibbons and the back line of Robert Hinds, Nathan Ferguson and Benja Lazcano.
"I think that our back line played fantastic," Reber said. "They have been pretty solid all year long and Jared has been fantastic all year long."
Gibbons made four saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
Ferguson, who has played forward, midfield and defense throughout his soccer career, said communication and cohesiveness were keys to the defensive effort.
"It's important to keep our focus because one or two moments can define a whole game," Ferguson said. "Forwards get a lot of attention for goals, and rightfully so, but a clean sheet is our goal every game."
 
The Redhawks will play their final regular-season home game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15. Roberts will honor its seniors prior to the match.