FSU Suffers First Defeat of Season

It was a rough week for the Bobcats as we lost our first match of the season and finished the week 0-1-1.

On Wednesday night we faced a tough Washington and Jefferson team that was playing their best soccer of the season.  Dealing with some injury issues we had to get the job done without one of our starting forwards, center midfielder, left back, and center back.  It was a non-conference game so were hoping to get some of the reserves some quality minutes.

Freshman Michael Cronauer got us on the board early when he finished off a corner kick from Bryan Whitmore.  W&J would respond midway through the half with a goal of their own to tie the game at one all.  Ryan Russell would get his team leading 12th goal of the season in the 67th minute.  We thought we had put the game away, but W&J would strike late in the game with a goal in the 88th minute to tie the score and would have another opportunity at the buzzer, but goalkeeper Abiye Jack would save the potential game winning shot.  We probably played our best soccer in the first overtime as we put together a few good chances but were unable to get the game winner.  W&J was the first team to out-shoot us this year and was probably the better team on the day.  We were fortunate to get out of their with the 2-2 tie.

On Saturday Mary Washington came to town for a crucial CAC conference match.  With Pablo Torrano still out with a shoulder injury and starting center back Bernard Fatusin just working himself back into the lineup we were thankful to have Kyle Walczak and Jared Fohs back for this match.  Mary Washington would have the better of the possession in the first half as we struggled to deal with their three central mid-fielders.  Neither team generated much offense as we only got off two shots while Mary Washington registered five.

The second half we made some adjustments in the middle and began to even out the play, but again both offenses were held in check.  Only a combined total of 4 shots were put on frame all game by both teams.  Unfortunately late in the game we would make the mistake that would decide the game.  After a ball was served into the box one of our backs tried to bring the ball down instead of clearing it out and his missed trap went right to a Mary Washington player who then found a wide open teammate inside the 6 yard box for the easy goal.

We did not do enough to win the game and when you make mistakes like that against a good team where goal scoring opportunities are at a minimum you usually end up losing the game. We will have to rebound right away as we get ready to go on the road to defending CAC Champion York College who currently leads the conference with a 4-0 record.