Frostburg Penalized for Rules Infraction

FROSTBURG, Md. - Frostburg State University announced Wednesday that the Bobcats' men's soccer team will forfeit three conference games for failure to apply rule 12.12.1, which took affect prior to the 2014-15 season and requires a player receiving a second red card in one season to serve a two-game suspension. The previous rule enforced just a one-game suspension.

Although there was only an ineligible player for one game (St. Mary's), the way the rules are written the penalty accrues for every game that is played until the infraction is rectified.  Therefore, the previous two games (Penn St. Harrisburg and Salisbury) have become forfeits as well and the ineligible player will sit today's match with Southern Virginia.

The three games forfeited will be FSU's victories over St. Mary's (2-1 on Oct. 17), Penn State Harrisburg (4-0 on Oct. 21) and a scoreless draw vs. Salisbury (Oct. 24).

While the team's overall NCAA record will not change, the Bobcats' conference record will reflect the forfeited contests and each of the three opponents will receive a victory in the standings in accordance with CAC rules.

Frostburg State is still eligible to participate in CAC, NCAA and ECAC competition if the team qualifies.  The top six teams qualify for the CAC playoffs, which begin Saturday, Oct. 31.

The Bobcats are currently 10-4-2 overall and will host Southern Virginia in their-regular season finale tonight at Bobcat Stadium at 6:00 pm.

Bobcats Battle Sea Gulls to 0-0 Draw

A 0-0 draw is not what we wanted, but the tie against Salisbury did put us in a position to lock up a home game for the first round of the CAC playoffs.

Overall it was a pretty even match.  Salisbury had more overall shots, but we led in shots on goal 10-9.  I thought Salisbury did a good job of getting the ball in our box and were dangerous on knock downs and back post runs.

Hassan Mostafa

Hassan Mostafa was clutch in the goal making some big saves on some flighted balls while Mack Naughton was solid in his first start of the season.  Both Sergio Gomez and Deion Hunter were out for the game and Naughton stepped up and played well against a very strong Salisbury front line.

Guy Nabo never quite got going and was hampered by a slight groin injury, but Carvell Akuffo put in a good performance and kept the offense moving.

It probably wasn't the best game of soccer by both teams, but it was a good game and most likely a fair result.

The tie puts us at 10-4-2 overall and 4-2-2 in the CAC.  We will be the #4 seed for the CAC playoffs and will have a home game against either Mary Washington or Christopher Newport.  Wednesday's results will determine the final seedings.

Big First Half Propels Bobcats Past Lions

Freshman Serigne Gueye

Wednesday evening could have been the well known "trap" game.  With the Salisbury match looming at the weekend and Penn St. Harrisburg struggling to get things going we could have lost focus on the match at hand, but we stayed strong and put Harrisburg away 4-0.

We were hoping to take them out of the game with an early goal, but it took a little longer than we had hoped for to get things going.  Once we got the first goal we were able to keep the pressure up and notched two more goals in the next 17 minutes.

Kelvin Tata started things off when he made a great deep run from the midfield and Elliot Quinteros found him with a nice service that put Tata in 1v1 with the keeper for the 1-0 lead.

Tata goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUM0Re2NslI

Jon Lippitt notched his second of the season when he picked up a tipped ball from a Harrisburg defender and was able to loft one over the keeper for the easy tap in.

Lippitt goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlIvEgPho-4

Mack Naughton finished off the scoring in the first half when he made a run from his left back position into the attacking third.  Serigne Gueye found Naughton with a through ball and Naughton was able to out maneuver a defender and the keeper for his second of the season.

Naughton goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxKasR3HVBw

Nabayee Tesfu finished off the scoring in the second half when he received a ball from Serigne Gueye in behind the Harrisburg back line and he placed his shot past the keeper.

Tesfu goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoYSHF7l_w0

It was nice to get the offense going while maintaining the shut out and everyone got to play. Unfortunately, Nabayee Tesfu and Deion Hunter could be lost of the rest of the season.  Tesfu suffered a pretty sever hamstring pull and could be out 2-3 weeks while Hunter rolled his ankle and could hopefully be back in about two weeks.

The big rivalry match with Salisbury is this Saturday away at 2pm.  Salisbury comes in with a 4-0-2 record in conference play so we will need a win to give ourselves a shot at earning a top 4 seed and a home playoff game.

Tata Rescues Bobcats in Overtime for Homecoming Victory

Senior Mitchell Muise

Saturday's game against St. Mary's had playoff implications.  With a loss, we would probably be in a position that we would need to win the remaining three games just to make the playoffs. The game had a little extra incentive as it was Senior day, Homecoming weekend, and an opportunity to get back at St. Mary's for knocking us out of the playoffs last year.

The game got off to a quick start, to the benefit of St. Mary's, when a Frostburg player mistakenly played a back pass directly to a St. Mary's player who was able to attack the the back line and get off a great shot from about 20 yds out that beat our diving goalkeeper.

We responded well and played some pretty good soccer throughout the half despite being down a goal just five minutes into the game.  Jon Lippitt used some nifty ball skills to beat a St. Mary's defender as he slipped the ball to Guy Nabo for an easy tap in with just nine seconds remaining in the half.

Nabo Goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRjeP5Y3DiQ

The second half was back and forth as both teams had several near misses.  The wind picked up and even some snow started to fall for a ten a minute period which really gave the game a playoff atmosphere.

With about five minutes remaining in the 2nd overtime Rodrigo Valenzuela played a ball across the goal mouth for Elliot Quinteros.  Quinteros' shot was saved by a sliding defender, but Kelvin Tata was on the spot to drill home the rebound from a tough angle.

Tata Goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR2RRwzBOa0

Kelvin Tata

Right now we sit at 9-4-1 and 3-2-1 in CAC play which puts us as the 5th seed currently.  There will surely be some shake up with theses final three remaining games and anything is still possible as we are only four points back of the leaders, Wesley College.

Next up will be Penn St. Harrisburg on Wednesday night at 7pm.

Bobcats Suffer Another Tough Road Loss

Tuesday afternoon was a quick turn around from our trip to Christopher Newport to face York College on the road for an important CAC match-up.  The boys put in a good effort, but once again it was not good enough as we dropped a 1-0 decision to York.

We certainly had some obstacles to overcome as starting midfielder Serigne Gueye was out with a red card suspension, leading goal scorer Guy Nabo was out with a cumulative yellow card suspension, and starting right back Sergio Gomez was still sidelined with an ankle injury.  To make matters worse starting left back Erik Casterline was knocked out of the game with concussion like symptoms midway through the first half.

Despite all that we were still very much in the match.  Shots were even and both teams had some legitimate scoring opportunities that went astray.  Overall it was a fairly even game, but it came down to one unorthodox play where our goalkeeper got bumped on the corner of the box and dropped the ball right into the feet of a York player.  He was able to basically have a free shot on goal with no goalkeeper as only one defender was back who tried to take away the near post.

Excuses about injuries or suspensions are not going to win us games, so the guys that are out there need to step up and take care of business.

St. Mary's comes to town on Saturday for a 5pm game on Homecoming Weekend.  St. Mary's got the better of us last year as they defeated us during the regular season and the playoffs.  The boys should be up for this one as we need to get back on track and pick up 3 points to keep pace for the playoff hunt.

Bobcats Hold on for Tie with #6 CNU

Saturday night was a true test to see if our team could compete against the nations elite.  I thought we proved we were good enough, but we still have some improving to do if we are going to win a game like that rather than just hold on for the tie.

Mitchell Muise

Just like last years game; our defense played well, the boys worked extremely hard, but Christopher Newport was the better team and we were fortunate to hold on for the 0-0 draw. We played more evenly with them for the first half and parts of the second, but towards the end of the game it seemed like their depth of talent began to wear us down.
We never quite got anything going in the attacking third and struggled to produce scoring opportunities.

With about 8 minutes left in regulation, Serigne Gueye picked up his second yellow which would force us to play down a man for the remainder of the match including both overtime periods.

Hassan Mostafa was strong in goal and kept us in the game along with a strong performance by defenders Erik Casterline, Mitchell Muise, and Chris Herbert.

With most of the calls seeming to go against us we were fortunate to catch a break as a CNU shot at the end of the first overtime went in off of a deflection, but was disallowed when it was ruled that the ball did not cross the goal line before the horn went off.

Despite having limited opportunities to score we did have one of the best chances of the afternoon when Mitchell Muise found Nabayee Tesfu with a nice diagonal ball. Tesfu was in on the keeper, but had a bit if a heavy touch and was unable to find the back of the net.

Our road trip continues on Tuesday when we head to York.

Frostburg Falls on the Road to Mary Washington

Junior Hassan Mostafa

In a tightly contested match up on Wednesday we fell 1-0 to the University of Mary Washington.

Both teams defended well and limited both offenses to very few shots.  Mary Washington registered seven shots to Frostburg's six.

I thought the game could have gone either way as both teams squandered what limited opportunities they had.  The game winner came off a corner kick where Hassan Mostafa made the initial save, but the rebound was kicked home to give the Eagles the win.

I thought we played well.  It wasn't our best performance, but UMW is a very solid team and we played pretty evenly.  Rodrigo Valenzuela stepped up and played well when Hunter Jarmon was limited to just the first half after being knocked out of the game with concussion like symptoms.

Carvell Akuffo should be back in training today and we are hopeful that Sergio Gomez, Jon Lippitt, and Hunter Jarmon will all be ready to go for the CNU match on Saturday.

Nabo Earns Player of the Week Honors

Guy Nabo

FROSTBURG, Md. – Men's soccer player freshman Guy Nabo was honored as the CAC Offensive Player of the Week for Oct. 5, 2015.

Nabo led the Bobcat offense in both games FSU played last week, tallying two goals and one assist. His first goal came in Frostburg's 5-1 victory over Penn State Altoona, where he earned the first goal of the game.

With the Bobcats trailing conference foe Wesley 2-1 late in regulation, Nabo headed the ball to bring the Bobcats back into the game in the 74^th minute. He also assisted teammate junior Jonathan Lippitt's game-winner in the 80^th minute to push the Bobcats to a 3-2 victory.

Frostburg State currently stands at 8-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference with wins over Marymount and Wesley.

The Bobcats play again when they travel to conference foe Mary Washington Tuesday, October 6 at 4:00 pm.

FSU Slips Past Wesley

Junior Jonathan Lippitt

Even tropical storm Joaquin could not dampen the spirits of the FSU vs. Wesley match on Saturday evening.  Both teams played with a lot of energy and fight, and while it wasn't always the prettiest soccer it was surely entertaining.  That fighting spirit paid off as we came from behind to earn the 3-2 win against the Wolverines.

The conditions were slick, but not different than your average rainy day in Frostburg in October. Wesley did a good job of disrupting our play and made it difficult for us to work the ball out of the back.  Despite being out shot in the first half we were able to take the lead when Mitchell Muise followed up a Deion Hunter free kick that the goalkeeper could not handle and poked in the rebound.

Muise Goal: https://youtu.be/H6ZQsMONQws

I thought we were moving the ball better during the 2nd half, but Wesley was able to get one back off a free kick that bounced around the box and then later added a nice cross and volley to take the the 2-1 lead.

The boys kept fighting and in the 73rd minute Erik Casterline found Guy Nabo with a service that Nabo was able to head in the corner of the goal to tie the match.

Nabo Goal: https://youtu.be/5oml72t2aa8

Six minutes later Nabo broke through the back line and after pulling the keeper out of position was able to slot the ball across the goal for an easy tap in by Jonathan Lippitt.  This was Lippitt's first collegiate goal.

Lippitt Goal: https://youtu.be/cifRRLqwhj8

The win puts us at 2-0 in CAC play and 8-2 overall.  The toughest stretch of the season starts today as we travel for road matches against Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, and York College all in the next week.

Starters Sergio Gomez and Carvell Akuffo who have been out the last two matches will be out again toady along with Lippitt who picked up an injury in the Wesley win.  We are going to get a chance to see what our bench is made of and hopefully they can step up when called upon.

Bobcats Offense Comes Alive at Altoona

Freshman KJ Davis and Hunter Jarmon

In our final non-conference match of the season the we faced former AMCC rival Penn St. Altoona. With the help of a strong second half the boys posted a 5-1 victory.

Guy Nabo does what he does best and that is score goals.  He opened up the scoring just 16 minutes into the game after a beautiful feed from KJ Davis.  Davis split the defenders with a pass that allowed Nabo to go 1v1 with the keeper for the easy finish.  Nabo has now scored in seven of nine games.

Altoona didn't quit and kept pushing for the tie. After some questionable defending they were able to tie the game when they got a shot past goalkeeper Hassan Mostafa from just outside the 6-yard box.

Mostafa would come up huge when he saved a penalty kick just five minutes into the 2nd half which kept the game tied at one.  That momentum carried over and the offense began to come to life.

Owen Marx scored his second of the season off a feed from defender Erik Castlerine.  We would tally three more times in the next twelve minutes to put the game away with goals from KJ Davis, Kelvin Tata, and Hunter Jarmon.

We came in with a mindset of wanting to limit the minutes of some of our usual starters as we have a big game on Saturday against Wesley College.  We were able to keep most of them around 45 minutes and got some pretty strong performances from some of the guys that have not played as much recently.

With eight games now remaining in CAC play, our focus is on finishing in the top 4 and getting a home playoff game and possibly a bye for the first round.