ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT men's soccer team (2-3) rode a successful Gene Sicoli (Commack, NY/Commack) penalty kick, and and clutch saves by goalkeeper Peter Cinibulk (Bellbrook, OH/Bellbrook), to a 2-0 victory over Elmira (1-4) on a warm Tuesday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.
 
The Sicoli goal was the result of a gritty effort by Dean Kouroupas (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield), whose hustle led him to an opportunity on the far side of the penalty box, with just the keeper to beat. Kouroupas tried to make a move to the keeper's right, was denied a shot, but was fouled, leading to Sicoli's penalty kick. 
 
Sicoli lined up to the spot, and pushed a low shot to the left of the Elmira goalkeeper, for his third goal of the season.
 
"Dean made a great run, " said Sicoli, who has scored on two penalty kicks this season. "We knew that the goalie was aggressive, and Dean showed that by bringing the goalie out and drawing the foul."
 
The Tigers put the game away in the 75th minute, when an opportunistic Sicoli passed the ball right up the middle of the field to the waiting feet of Akram Meza (Troy, NY/Troy), who patiently flicked the ball just over the charging goalkeeper for his first goal of the season.
 
With the win, RIT improves to 11-3-2 against the Soaring Eagles. Shots were almost even throughout, with the Tigers holding a small 15-14 margin.
 
"It was certainly a positive step as far as the result goes," said RIT head coach Bill Garno. "We'll take the result, but we have a lot of work to do to get ready for Saturday."
 
Elmira ramped up the pressure after the first goal, and had a few chances at the net, especially in the second half. A big test occurred in the 59th minute, when Elmira's Donte Donegal had a run on the near side of the box, and laced a shot towards the opposite corner of the net. Cinibulk changed direction, diving to his right to make a clutch tip save.
 
The Soaring Eagles' best chance came in the 80th minute, as Elmira forward Michael Bryant's shot from about 35 yards out nearly went over the hands of Cinibulk, who was barely able to wrangle the shot with his fingertips.  Teammates Mike DiCola (Flanders, NJ/Mount Olive) and Anthony DeFeo (Rochester, NY /Hilton) then jumped to the rescue, preventing the ball from trickling into the net, and clearing the ball out of the danger zone to preserve the shutout.
 
"I thought we were organized on defense today," said Cinibulk, who saved six Elmira shots. "We have been working on being more organized, one-on-one defending and man marking, and we did a good job."
 
The Tigers will now look forward to a date with nationally-ranked University of Rochester (2-2-1) in the Hillside Community Shield at the friendly confines of Tiger Stadium. The Tiger Den event will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday.