Frostburg Thumps Southern Virginia in Season Finale

In the last regular season game of the season the boy's put their disappointment behind them and finished off Southern Virginia with an emphatic 8-0 win.

We got on the board early and often with four goals in the first 13 minutes.  Last year's result was a 1-0 win against Southern Virginia so we were not sure how the game was going to play out.

Kelvin Tata got things started with a nice diving header in the eighth minute of play.

Tata Goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QcrZ94mxLg

Carvell Akuffo had a tap in three minutes later when Tata slid the ball across the box.  Carvell has a had a very solid freshman campaign and despite not having the stats he has been a big contributor to the offense this year.

Akuffo Goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdtVegzSz-s

Senior Mitchell Muise scored on a penalty kick in his last home game shortly after Akuffo's goal and Guy Nabo scored his 10th and 11th of the season four minutes apart.

Nabo Goals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjoxk5mfjRc
                     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM_u-xSOu9Y

Hunter Jarmon ended the first half scoring with a penalty kick for the 6-0 halftime lead.

Erik Casterline

In the second half Erik Casterline and Rodrigo Valenzulea finished off the game with a penalty kick each of their own.  Freshmen Carlos Caro and Austin Gray combined for the shutout and collected one save a piece.

Unfortunately the results that we needed to get into the playoffs did not go our way so we were eliminated from the CAC playoffs as a result of the three forfeited games.  I can't say enough about how the guys have handled themselves and their emotions over the last week.  They are committed to ending the season on a high note and are looking forward to the ECAC Tournament and competing for our first ECAC Championship since 1992.

We finish the season with an 11-4-2 record and 5-2-2 in CAC play.  Our overall record remains the same as far as NCAA and ECAC selections are concerned.

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.