Malburg Picks Up Assist and a Goal in Trailblazers Win at Sage

ALBANY, N.Y.—The MCLA Men's soccer team took to the road this afternoon for a non-conference Matchup with the Russell Sage College Gators at the Albany College of Pharmacy Athletics Complex. The Trailblazers picked up their first win of the season on goals from Jacob Malburg and Traizen Griffith.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, September 7, 2024
• Score: MCLA 2, Sage 1
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 1-3-0 (MASCAC 0-0-0) | Russell Sage College Gators 1-2-0 (Empire 8 0-0-0)
• Series History: Russell Sage leads the all-time series 4-3-0, including a 1-0 win in their last meeting on September 24, 2019 at Russell Sage. The teams first met on October 23, 2012, a Trailblazers 3-0 road victory.

HIGHLIGHTS

• MCLA scored the game's first goal when Jacob Malburg (Amesbury, MA) made the Gators pay for a poorly passed ball from a defender back to the netminder near the outer edge of the six-yard box in the 27^th minute. The ball took a funny hop on the goalie and went off the side of his shin towards Malburg, who was crashing to the net for the open goal.
• The Trailblazers repaid the hosts' kindness in the 59^th minute by scoring an own goal off a Sage corner kick.
• With just over 90 seconds remaining in regulation, Traizen Griffith (Enfield, CT) sent the visitors home with the victory, scoring his first goal of the season thanks to a pass from Malburg. Avani Richardson (Amherst, MA) settled a ball near midfield in the Trailblazers' defensive end and sent it forward to Malburg inside the center circle on the Gators' end. Malburg backheeled the ball ahead to a streaking Griffith, who outran a Sage defender and nailed a shot from about 8 yards out for the game-winning goal.
• Trailblazers' keeper Ryan Taylor (Plattsburgh, NY) saw his record improve to 1-2-0 after making six saves. The Gators' Aiden Van Oostveen finished with one save and dropped his record to 0-1-0.

UP NEXT:

On Wednesday, MCLA will be back in action when they play host to Lesley University for a non-conference matchup with the Lynx at Shewcraft Field. The teams will take the pitch for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.