Boys Night Out

The team enjoyed the day off from training last week as we headed down to RFK for the USA vs. Costa Rica World Cup Qualifier.

We weren't sure what we would get with the USA having already clinched  a birth, but they would not dissappoint.  The game was full of excitement as the USA created numerous scoring opportunities, but failed to capitalize and Costa Rica would counter with two early goals.  The second was a tremendous shot from outside the box that went upper 90.

The USA kept fighting and made a strong push in the second half and finally got one back in the 70th minute.  The closing minutes were frantic as the USA was pushing everyone forward.  The dramatic game tying goal was off a corner in the 5th minute of stoppage time and it sent the crowd into a  frenzy.  Not a bad way to take a break from the practice pitch...

Three in a Row

We picked up our third win in a row yesterday as we knocked off Mt. Aloysius 6-0.  It was a game we were supposed to win, so I was glad to see us take care of business and hoepfully gain more confidence now that we have won three in throw and have posted back to back shutouts.

Seniors Steve Jacobsen and Ricky Marchant (pictured) would get the scoring started in the first half as we would go to break with a 2-0 lead.  Sophomore defender Jamie Flewellyn made the most of his move to the front line as he scored 2 goals in the first 6 minutes of the second half.  Mike Bistany would register a long range shot and Ricky Marchant picked up his second of the day to finish up the scoring.  Freshman keeper Abiye Jack saw his firts action since being injured and posted his first collegiate shutout.

Tonight the team will take the day off as we travel down to RFK for the USA vs. Costa Rica World Cup Qualifier.
                                                                            

Solid Performance

Things are starting to turn around as we played a fairly complete game and defeated Hilbert College 4-0 on Saturday night.  The offense is starting to find its stride as this was the second game in a row that we put 4 goals up on the board.

Hilbert College came in with a not so impressive record, but they typically play us very hard and last years game was only a 1-0 win for us up in Buffalo.  Sophomore defender Jamie Flewellyn started things off with a blast from about 35 yards out that found the upper right corner of the net. That would be all the scoring in the first half, but again the chances were there as we put 12 shots up to just 1 for Hilbert.  The second half saw us take control as Ciso Diaz scored his second goal in as many games just 6 minutes into the second half and Seniors Steve Jacobsen and Ricky Marchant would finish up the scoring.

I was pleased to see us play well and do alot of things right that we were struggling to do the previous weeks.  We were sharp on our passes, had great shape in the back, and we used our pressure to create a lot of turnovers.

First Conference Win

It's taken some time for us to get back on track, but the team came through with our first conference win yesterday by beating Pitt-Greensburg 4-2.

The game had no real flow in the first half as both teams were struggling to posess, but each side did have a few decent scoring opportunities.  We would capitalize on a well placed header from Brian Daivs off a corner kick from Raul Diaz and would take the 1-0 lead into halftime.

The team put the sloppy first half behind them and came out with much more energy and determination. Senior Alex Super would give us some breathing room by scoring his first two goals of the season at the 49 minute mark and again in the 64th minute.  Francisco Diaz would round out the scoring for 4-0 lead in 73rd minute.  After a few subs and some careless defiending Greensburg would finish two quick goals less than a  minute a part late in the game.  We would collect ourselves and finish out the game to get our first conference road win of the season.

      

Road Woes Continue

Our struggles on the road continued Saturday night as we fell to the AMCC defending Champion Medaille College 2-0.  Medaille came into the game as a highest scoring team in the nation averaging 4.6 goals per game.

The match kind of mirrored our entire season so far:  We started the game without our starting centerback Greg Bistany, central midfielder Mike Bistany, and our other starting center midfielder Sean Jones was knocked out of the game by half time with a fracured nose and a gash above his eye that would require 13 stitches.  The only game this season where we have had what we consider our starting line up was the first game of the season and only one player has started all 11 games.

I thought we put together a good first half.  We had a great work rate and macthed their intensity.  The backline was well organized and only surendered one or two scoring opportunities to the Mavericks.  The second half was a little more one sided as we seemed to defend most of the half and did not posess the ball in the attacking thrid.  Once again our inability to defend set pieces would cost us.  Medaille's first goal would be the result of a knock down on corner kick that was poorly cleared down the middle of the box and the rebound was sent back in before our keeper could recover.  The second goal was a penalty kick.

We now find ourselves at the bottom of the conference with an 0-3 record, but with 7 games remaining I am confident that we will start to climb the table and position ourselves appropriately for the AMCC playoffs.

Heartbreaker at Home

Having not had a home match in 3 weeks it was good to be back on the pitch at Bobcat Stadium. The boys had a good focus going into the game and came out flying and put Penn. St. Altoona under pressure from the opening whistle. We finished the first half with a 7-1 advantage in shots and freshman Shawn Baker netted his second goal of the season to give us a 1-0 lead at the 36 minute mark. Altoona would take advantage of our raw emotion and would even the game up just 15 seconds later.

The second half was a little more even and saw much more play in the midfield, but we were stil able to register 7 more shots and finsihed the day with a 14-6 advantage. Freshman Dillon Muise scored his second goal in 3 games and gave us a lead in the 66th minute. Unfortunately a slight lack of focus in our defensive shape allowed Altoona to get behind on two through balls and they netted goals in the 75th and 77th minute to win the contest 3-2.

I was very pleased with the way we started on Tuesday night. Our work rate, energy, and attacking mindset were excellent. We know the goals will eventually start to fall and that we can still be a team that contends for the AMCC title. Right now it's more mental than anyhthing else, once we start belieiving in ourselves again and find a way to win that tough game we should be able to move ahead and finish the season on a positive note.

5 Game Road Trip Ends

It was good to see our 5 game road trip come to an end, but unfortunatley we failed to get the result again as we dropped a 1-0 decision to Albright College. Midway through the first half Albright was awarded a free kick that freshman keeper Abiye Jack deflected wide off the post, but the ball stayed alive and during the ensuing scrum Albright kicked in the game winner. Jack was injured on the play after being run into by an Albright player, but no foul was called. Jack would leave the game with a bruised chest and has been out of action since the incident.

We made did make some positive strides forward during the match. We posessed well and created several scoring opportunities and in the end outshot our opponents 17-9, but again failed to capitalize on those opportunities and saw us suffer another defeat to a free kick.