Bobcats Defeat Former AMCC Rival

Sophomore Jason Bennett

Last Tuesday we had our first away match of the season against Penn St. Altoona. One of our goals this year was to do better on the road, so it was nice to get off to an early start.

Ryan Russell would net his 4th goal of the season in the 7th minute of the game after pressuring the Altoona defender into a mistake and chipping the goalkeeper from about 20 yards out. Jason Bennett would score10 minutes later to give us the 2-0 lead.

Altoona Goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASjx9asdgNk


That was all the Bobcats would need as the defense would hold Altoona to just one shot for the match.

The win pushes our record to 5-0-1, which is the best start since the 1991 team won it's first 15 games on its way to 17-2-1 record. The team also earned recognition by being ranked the #9 team in the South Atlantic Region at the beginning of the week.

Bobcats Take Conference Opener

Sophomore, Damian Ramos

The boys were pumped to be taking on St. Mary's, who was ranked 4th in the region, in the conference home opener. After failing to qualify for the CAC playoffs last year we were hoping to prove to ourselves and others that we were a team that would be there in the end this year.


The energy and attitudes were very high due to the early season success. We would take the lead 32 minutes into the contest when Damian Ramos' shot was helped in by a St. Mary's defender. Just 10 minutes into the second half Scott Wasser would drill home an upper 90 shot from just inside the box to give us the 2-0 lead.

St. Mary's goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfQBHcdZq7s
St. Mary's goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtKCFRigxyY

St. Mary's would press in the final minutes and would capitalize on a poor clearance in the 86th minute, but Ryan Russell would respond with his third goal of the season to put the game away with 32 seconds remaining.

St. Mary's goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nCBpGVBR0Y

Junior, Ryan Russell

Overall it was a very competitive game by two quality teams, but I think we had a few more scoring opportunities and were more efficient in front of the goal on the day. The first road test of the season will be Tuesday as we head to former AMCC rival Penn St. Altoona followed by a road trip to Salisbury for a true test of where we stand this season.

Bobcats Continue Strong Start

Junior, Ryan Russell

After winning the FSU Tournament we have continued our winning ways with two more home victories against Bethany 2-1 and Waynesburg 1-0, putting our current record at 3-0-1.

The Bethany game was played in a torrential down pour, but despite the poor conditions the level of play was reasonably well. Chris Jones would net his first goal of the season midway through the first half to give us the 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

We seemed to be controlling the play and thought we had put the game away when Alex Brainard was taken down in the box on a breakaway and Jamie Flewellyn would score the ensuing penalty kick to give us the 2-0 lead. We did not do a very good job of seeing the game out being up 2 goals and a man due to a red card on the breakaway foul. Bethany would continue to push and were rewarded with a penalty kick of their own late in the second half to make it a 2-1 game.

Bethany goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhpcKonXwvI

We had a much better performance in the Waynesburg game. The score was only 1-0, but we controlled the play and were never really threatened as we outshot the yellow jackets 19-3. Ryan Russell scored his second goal of the season late in the first half on a nice finish from long distance. The team is starting to play with confidence and I really like our style of play right now.

Waynesburg goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R0GWJjbzGk

Sophomore, Chris Jones

3-0-1 is a great start to the season as we get ready for our conference opener this weekend against St. Mary's.

Positive Start to the Season

Freshman, Joe Clarke

The Frostburg State men's soccer team started the 2011 campaign on a positive note by winning the FSU Kick-off Tournament over Labor Day Weekend.

On Friday night, Freshman Joe Clarke got his college career started in a hurry as he tallied his first collegiate goal just 41 seconds into the contest. Clarke would net his second goal in the 12th minute of the game. Junior transfer, from the College of Southern MD, Ryan Russell would make it 3-0 in the 31st minute. John Jay College (NY) would tally before the half to make it 3-1.

The Bobcats put up 11 more shots in the second half, but would only register one more goal from junior Scott Wasser.

FSU would take on Averett College (VA) in the Championship match on Saturday. This was a much more evenly contested game and with very humid and hot weather conditions, both teams would call upon their depth to see the game out. Frostburg held a slight 7-5 edge in shots in regulation, but could not find the back of the net. The game would go to overtime and end 0-0 with FSU getting off 3 more shots in the overtime period.

A penalty kick contest was used to declare a tournament champion. Junior goalkeeper Abiye Jack came up big for the Bobcats as he made 2 saves and saw another go wide. The Bobcats would claim the tournament championship with a 3-2 shootout victory.

Junior, Scott Wasser

Overall it was a positive start to the season for the Bobcats, last year FSU dropped both games of the FSU tournament. The Red and Black are back in action on Tuesday night at 7pm at Bobcat Stadium against Bethany (WV).

1st goal vs. John Jay, Clarke     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR5ul1DB7jo

2nd Goal vs. John Jay, Clarke   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xLd0fmMjfA

3rd Goal vs. John Jay, Russell    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGH3-VHm17s

4th goal vs. John Jay, Wasser    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drI37PjUMOE

2011 Alumni Game

I'd like to thank all of those that made it out for the Alumni game this year. Despite a brief scare from Hurricane Irene we got the game in without any weather issues and the Alumni earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw. 

With a limited bench and 5 goalkeepers on the roster the Alumni used every bit of energy they had.  They would take a 1-0 lead when Jay Herford followed up a Steve Jacobsen shot and put home the rebound.

Bryn Varhol was called upon to make the best save of the game as he turned away a Scott Wasser shot that had upper 90 written all over it early in the second half.

Frehsman Joe Clarke would get FSU on the board late in the game to tie the score at 1-1.

It was great to see those that made it up and hopefully next year the guys that had to take a year off can make it back up to the Burgh...

UK Summer Tour 2011

The team is back from England and Scotland and will have a much needed 7 days of rest before checking in for pre-season.

Overall the boys had a great experience. While in Manchester we played 2 games, toured Old Trafford, went to an Everton game, took a day trip to Chester, and spent one afternoon at the very impressive Trafford Center (mall). The days were quite full as we would typically have a morning session, afternoon meal and sightseeing and then an evening game.

In Scotland, we stayed at quaint little town called Bridge of Allan right outside the city of Stirling. While in Scotland we toured Celtic Park, visited Edinburgh, toured the city of Stirling including the castle and the William Wallace Monument, and had a Scottish Football Association Coach run a training session for us. We only played 1 match because the second had to be canceled due to heavy rain.

Unfortunately, we didn't win any games this time around, but we actually saw some very good things from our play and thought that we could carry them over to our season. The team had a blast and really enjoyed the culture and atmosphere surrounding the trip.

 

 

2011 Kickin Diabetes Tournament

FSU Players and Alumni

Saturday, May 7th was the annual Kickin Diabetes Tournament held at the Cumberland YMCA. It has become a Frostburg tradition for the current players and alumni to get together for a great day of soccer, friends, and supporting a good cause.

I would like to thank the YMCA and alumnus Rob Wise for hosting the event and allowing us to co-sponsor and support this great cause. Special thanks also go out to the referees who volunteer their time to so we can donate as much as possible to the American Diabetes Association.

Congratulations to the Frostburg State Alumni team for winning the event and defending their Championship. The Alumni would face the current FSU players in the final and would prove that their earlier loss to FSU in bracket play was just a fluke. Playing for the Alumni were Bryn Varhol, Trevor Havey, Danny Simpson, Adam Gracia, Brandon Rethemeyer, Greg Bistany, Nate Kish, Claudio Dias, and Heath Hastings.

Hopefully next year we can get a few more Alumni teams entered and can make it any even bigger event. Thanks again to the YMCA, Rob, the referees and the 2011 participants including Hagerstown Community College and a few local club teams for making this a great event.