ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University men's soccer team picked up its first home win of the season on Saturday afternoon, taking down visiting Randolph Macon College by a score of 2-0.
 
Daniel Rival and Gavin Ford scored for the Knights in the win, while Seth Walker earned his second shutout of the season making eight saves in goal.
 
Neumann had the better of the play in the opening half, outshooting the Yellow Jackets by a count of 7-4 while also earning four corner kicks compared to just two for the visitors. Despite playing much of the half in the Randolph Macon end, it would take until late in the frame for the hosts to break through. That moment came in the 36th minute as Rival broke the ice. Ainsley Reid set the play into motion, driving towards the Yellow Jacket back-line before slipping a lateral ball across the top of the box to Rival. The senior midfielder took a touch and fired a howitzer into the upper-90 on the right side of the goal to put the Knights up 1-0.
 
The hosts were not quite done in the half. Keeping momentum rolling late in the period, an outstanding individual effort from Ford resulted in a second tally. A compact and hard-working defense forced an errant backwards pass that was intercepted by a streaking Ford just inside the visiting end. The sophomore then look a large touch beyond the last defender and raced in on a breakaway before calmly slotting home the game's second goal to make it 2-0 heading to halftime.
 
The Knights continued to press for more goals early in the second stanza. Matt Sengphachanh nearly made it 3-0 in the first five minutes of the frame, but his close range effort was saved off the line by a diving Yellow Jacket goalkeeper. Randolph Macon pressed forward trying to get itself back into the game, but each and every opportunity was stymied by a hard-working group of Knight defenders. The visitors recorded seven second half shots, but Walker kept them at bay with four saves to keep the shutout intact and help the hosts leave the field with a 2-0 victory.
 
Neumann (2-3-1) gets back to the field next week when the team heads to Widener University in non-conference action. Game-time is scheduled for 7:00 PM.