Mid-Season Update

It has been a bit of an up and down season so far.  We are currently 6-6 overall, but are 2-1 in CAC play.

We really tried to test the boys early this year with our non-conference schedule.  We lost games to Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, Kenyon, Lycoming, and Catholic during the early part of the season.

Kenyon was ranked as high as #2 in the nation, CMU is #17 in the nation, and both Lycoming and Hopkins are regionally ranked in the Mid-Atlantic region.  We were in every game and were even up 2-1 on Kenyon, but couldn't hold on and lost 3-2.

We knew it was going to be a tough schedule, but we needed the competition to prepare for conference play.  So far it has paid off  with a strong 5-0 performance against Wesley and a solid 1-0 victory over St. Mary's, who came into the game 7-1-1 and ranked regionally.

We had a setback on Wednesday night when we dropped a 3-1 decision to Mary Washington.  We actually played pretty well and were fairly even in shots 12-11, but made some costly mistakes that Mary Wash capitalized on each time.  The Eagles are currently 7-2 and also ranked regionally in the South Atlantic.

Things do not get any easier as we prepare for Christopher Newport on Saturday at 7pm.  The Captains come in with a record of 10-2 (3-0 CAC) and ranked #18 in the nation by D3soccer.com.

You can checkout the goals from the season so far on our YouTubepage:  https://www.youtube.com/my_videos?o=U

Frostburg State Announces 2016 Incoming Class

Men’s Soccer Incoming Class

“This class has the potential to be as good as last year’s class in which we usually started six first year players a game. It is one that we have high expectations for due to their quality and experience. We expect an immediate impact from a number of incoming players, and hope that the competition for starting spots in all positions will raise our overall level of play. We are really excited about the positional makeup of this class because it fills some gaps that we think existed in the roster last season. Like last year, many of our incoming players already have a playing history together that we hope translates immediately to greater chemistry.”

The class of 2016 consists of six players out of high school and five transfers.

Name: Josh McRobie
High School: Arundel High School
Club Team: ASA Premier

Position: Forward
Frostburg Staff on McRobie: "Josh is a player that we have been monitoring for a while. He is the complete striker and has all the intangibles that we look for in impact players. It is hard to find a forward as technically and tactically sound in all aspects of forward play as Josh."

Name: Matt Morris
High School: Calverton School
Club Team: Maryland United

Position: Midfield/Forward
Frostburg Staff on Morris: "Matt is one of the most creative and technically gifted players in the state. He can create something out of nothing and is a constant threat to score or assist. It will be exciting to see what he can bring to our offense."

Name: Kyle Wilson
High School: La Plata High School
Club Team: Maryland United

Position: Outside back/Holding Mid/Winger
Frostburg Staff on Wilson: "Kyle is going to bring much needed versatility to our team. He was an All- State forward in high school, but plays midfield and defense for his club team. No matter where Kyle plays, he will bring the grit and determination needed to win."

Name: Ronaldo Sotelo
High School: Montgomery Blair High School
Club Team: Maryland United

Position: Center Mid
Frostburg Staff on Sotelo: "Ronnie possesses a soccer IQ usually not seen in American players. He has tremendous technical ability, spatial awareness, and composure that makes him a very dangerous central midfielder. He thinks a step ahead of most players, and we can’t wait to see what he can do at the college level."

Name: Mitchell Love
High School: Indian Creek High School
Club Team: Pipeline U17s

Position: Midfield
Frostburg Staff on Love: "Mitchell plays for one of the best teams in the nation for his age group. His technical ability and decision making in front of goal make him a constant threat, which is something we lacked last year. He will add a dimension to our attack that we simply did not have before."

Name: Ryan Lanza
High School: North Carroll High School
Club Team: Baltimore Celtic

Position: Left Back
Frostburg Staff on Lanza: "Ryan comes from the prestigious Baltimore Celtic club team, and has the experience and style of play that we look for. We expect his transition to the college game to be easy, and love his ability to keep possession playing out of the back."

Name: Mukor Harris
High School: Northwest High School
Former College: Marshall University/ Cal State- San Bernardino

Position: Forward/Outside Mid/Back
Frostburg Staff on Harris: "Mukor will bring a level of experience and athleticism capable of immediately impacting our team. He has played a number of positions during his time in Division I and II, and it will be exciting to see where he best fits into our system."

Name: Ernest Williams III
High School: Sherwood High School
Former College: Bucknell University/ MCC-Rockville

Position: Midfield
Frostburg Staff on Williams: "Ernie is a player that we are very high on. His work rate, athleticism, and technical ability has the potential to fit perfectly with how we want to play. His background as a Baltimore Bays academy player means he knows what it takes to compete at this level."

Name: George Afakpe
High School: Lagooze High School, Nigeria
Former College: Prince George’s CC

Position: Midfield
Frostburg Staff on Afakpe: "George is another player that we are excited to see where he will fit into our system. He is a very experienced and mature player that has the composure to unlock defenses."

Name: Christian Nlend
High School: Northwest High School
Former College: Shepherd University

Position: Back
Frostburg Staff on Nlend: "Christian comes to us after a successful season at the Division II level in which he started every game for Shepherd. He is a versatile, tough, and athletic defender that will fit our system perfectly."

Name: Eli Kouemi
High School: Watkins Mill High School
Former College: Lycoming College

Position: Midfield
Frostburg Staff on Kouemi: "Eli is a player that we recruited last year and are very familiar with. He is an extremely dynamic and versatile midfielder that can help us out in a few different positions. Eli comes to us after a highly successful season at Lycoming in which they reached the NCAA third round and lost to eventual champion Amherst.”

Men's Soccer End of Season Awards

from L to R: Casterline, Jarmon, Nabo, Muise

The Men's Soccer Team would like to announce the following award recipients for the 2015 season.

Team MVP - Freshman, Hunter Jarmon: Hunter was an integral part of this years team making an immediate impact with his leadership and play on the field.  As our primary holding midfielder he was our field general and did an excellent job of organizing the team and motivating them throughout the season.

Offensive MVP - Freshman, Guy Nabo: Guy burst onto the scene as a massive presence up top. Leading the team in goals and points with 12 and 27 respectively.  His intimidating size was matched only by his great footwork and composure in front of the goal.

Defensive MVP - Senior, Mitchell Muise:  Mitchell had his best season in his final year.  The leader of the back-line and backbone of the team, Mitchell was a force in the air and persistently broke up the opponents best scoring opportunities.

Gilbert Gray Award - Junior, Erik Casterline: Erik became a great leader in just his first semester on the team and was the ideal teammate throughout the season.  He always leads by example both on and off the field and has set the tone for the dedication and commitment expected from our boys going forward if we are going to make the move to being a nationally recognized team.

Muise Garners More Post-Season Honors

Frostburg State senior defender Mitchell Muise was named to the 2015 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division III Men's All-South Atlantic Region and to the 2015 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Men's Soccer Division III South All-Star Second Team.

Muise earned a spot on the All-South Atlantic Region Second Team after his impressive defensive efforts this season. The defender started all 19 games for the Bobcats and helped to place the FSU defense near the top of the Capital Athletic Conference. He helped lead Frostburg to a 0.75 goals-against-average, placed the Bobcats second in the CAC in goals against (12), and third in shutouts (9).

On the offensive end, he was third on the roster in in goals scored this season (3) and ended with a .833 shots-on- goal percentage. Muise was also selected as a First Team All-CAC pick for the 2015 season.

Frostburg State finished the season 11-6-2, 5-3-2 and made an appearance in the first round of the ECAC Tournament.

Four Named All-CAC, Three Garner First Team Honors

Muise, Mostafa, and Nabo

The Frostburg State men's soccer team collected four All-Capital Athletic Conference awards Wednesday, including first-team honors for senior Mitchell Muise, junior Hassan Mostafa and freshman Guy Nabo. Freshman Hunter Jarmon was placed on the All-CAC Second Team.

The foursome led the Bobcats to an 11-5-2 overall record and the second seed in the 2015 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Championship.

Muise and Mostafa grabbed first-team honors after helping place the Bobcat defense near the top of the CAC. The duo helped Frostburg lead the league in goals allowed (10), finish second in goals against average (0.57) and third in shutouts (9).

The first-team selection is the first all-conference honor for Muise after his standout four-year career with the Bobcats. He started all 17 games and finished with three goals on the offensive end.

Mostafa was named to the All-CAC First Team for the second-consecutive year and has emerged as one of the country's top goalkeepers. He is currently 15^th nationally in save percentage (0.878) and 35^th in Division III in goals against average (0.670). He finished with five shutouts and allowed just 10 goals in over 1,300 minutes in net.

As a team, Frostburg is fifth in the country in save percentage (0.899), 18^th in team goals against average (0.57) and 35^th in shutout percentage (0.53).

Nabo and Hunter garner All-CAC honors following impressive freshman campaigns.

Jarmon

Nabo finished second in the CAC in both points (25) and goals (11) and was the league's highest scoring freshman. Nabo also tied for second in the CAC with three game-winning goals. Nabo appeared in 8-of-9 conference games and totaled five goals and one assists against the league schools.

Jarmon was named to the All-CAC Second Team after starting 17-of-19 games and finished with seven points behind two goals and three assists. Against CAC competition, Jarmon started all nine games, scored one goal and handed out two assists.

Nabo and Jarmon helped the Bobcat front line to 39 goals, good for second in the CAC and 75th in the country in scoring offense.

Frostburg Falls in ECAC Tournament

Wednesday night we dropped a close 2-1 decision to Alvernia College.  The loss ends our season with an 11-5-2 record and a little bit of disappointment on our minds.

After not having a game for the last two weeks we were hoping that being awarded the #2 seed in the ECAC Tournament would give us a boost heading into Wednesday nights opening round match.  I do think we were a little flat as far as emotion goes, but we played well enough and did a good job of controlling the ball.

Our possession game was good, but we failed to find that final pass that would get us into scoring positions.  Alvernia did a good job of keeping their defensive shape and constantly had numbers behind the ball. They countered well and were dangerous when we gave the ball away.

Neither team did a whole lot offensively.  We led in shots 9-7 and shots on goal 5-4, but neither team consistently put the keeper under pressure.

After a low shot slipped by our keeper in the first half for the 0-1 deficit I still thought we were playing well enough to come back and get the equalizer.  The goal never came and after pushing numbers forward late in the second half Alvernia got in behind again on a counter attack and scored what would be the game winning goal.

Guy Nabo scored his 11th of the season with one minute remaining, but it was too little too late and the season would end with a 2-1 loss at home.

Nabo Goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adpISMx8jAo

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.

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.

Bobcats Use Strong 2nd Half to Win CAC Opener

Freshman Kelvin Tata

Saturday night we opened CAC play with a tough road contest at Marymount University.  We fell behind early, but used a strong 2nd half performance to win the game 2-1.

We always seem to struggle to get off to good starts when we visit Marymount.  The last time we were down there we fell behind 3-0 before coming from behind for the 4-3 win.

This time was no different as we surrendered a penalty kick mid-way through the half and found ourselves down 1-0 to the Saints.  We had a lot of time on the ball, but were not patient enough with our distribution and forced a lot of passes that resulted in turnovers.

The second half we picked up the tempo and ball movement.  The short, crisp, passing game was much more effective and the offense began to create opportunities.

Just five minutes into the 2nd half Kelvin Tata received a long service from Sergio Gomez and slotted the ball past the keeper to tie the game at one all.

Eleven minutes later Guy Nabo netted his team leading 6th goal of the season after Hunter Jarmon and Sergio Gomez combined on a nice combination that allowed Gomez to get to the end line and find Nabo in the box.

It was important to start CAC play off with a win and the come from behind result on the road was a good confidence boost for the boys.  We are now 6-2 and have our final non-conference game on Thursday at Penn St. Altoona before returning home on Saturday for a CAC match against Wesley.

Frostburg Loses First Road Match

Tuesday afternoon we suffered our first away loss of the season as we were defeated by Hood College 2-1.

I thought we had a decent focus in warm-ups, but we came out a little complacent in our speed of play and we lost focus on an early set piece.

Just six minutes into the game Hood was awarded a corner kick.  They won the first ball at the near post with a flick and then beat us to the second ball for the games first goal.  That's a play where we need to be more engaged and cannot get out worked in our own box.

Guy Nabo scored his team leading 5th goal of the season just two minutes later when he out muscled a Hood defender for a loose ball in the box and slotted home the shot.

Later in the half a Hood defender miss-hit a cross and the ball sailed to the back post and went in just over the out-stretched arms of goalkeeper Hassan Mostafa.  It was just one of those goals where there is nothing that could have been done about it.

The second half we came out and controlled the tempo of the game.  Hood was limited in their possessions in our half of the field.  We possessed well, we switched the point of attack well, but we struggled to create genuine scoring opportunities.

The Hood defenders worked extremely hard and blocked several shots with their bodies and caught our guys mid swing and stuffed several shots before we could get them off.  We finally thought we had gotten one back when KJ Davis directed in a header from Kelvin Tata, but he was ruled off-sides. The video was in-conclusive, but it looks like KJ's run was made from behind the ball.

We need to forget about this game and get focused on our CAC opener when we will face a much improved Marymount team this Saturday at 7:30pm at Long Bridge Park in Arlington, VA.

Caro Selected CAC Defensive Player of the Week

Freshman GK Carlos Caro

YORK, Pa. – The Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) announced its weekly honors Monday, and Frostburg State freshman goalkeeper Carlos Caro has been selected as the men's soccer Defensive Player of the Week.
 
Caro stopped five shots last week in his first collegiate start, a 2-0 shutout of Washington & Jefferson. Caro made three saves in the second half and the Bobcats scored goals in the 56^th and 62^nd minutes to earn their fifth shutout of the season.
 
Caro has appeared in two games this fall and has played nearly 110 minutes in net.
 
Frostburg State, currently 5-1 on the season, travels to Hood tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm.