Men's Soccer Scores Two Late Goals to Defeat Presidents

Senior Chris Jones

Senior Chris Jones rescued the game for us with his second goal of the match with just fifty seconds remaining as the boys battled back and scored two goals in the final 6:30 minutes to defeat Washington and Jefferson College 3-2.

We started out nicely stringing some passes together and looking for combinations to get in behind their defense.  Jones made a run out of the back and kept going while Alex Brainard and Pablo Torrano played a nice up-down-thru to find Jones penetrating their back line.  Jones calmly floated a shot over the charging keeper for the 1-0 lead just 11 minutes into the game.

http://youtu.be/VcmPwbehiI4  - Jones Goal

Unfortunately we switched off soon after on a free kick and allowed two unmarked Presidents to get in behind our defense off a second service and the game was tied at 1-1 just two minutes later.  We controlled much of the tempo for the remainder of the half but could not find the second goal.

We started the second half positively and again were looking for many more combinations than we had tried in the previous game.  However, once again after looking pretty solid we failed to clear a ball from our box twice and it found its way to an open W&J player who put a nice shot in the corner out of the reach of our keeper.

This gave us a chance to see what we were made of and if we could handle a little adversity.  We kept pressing and putting the W&J goal under duress, but it would take until the 84th minute to find the equalizer.  Jonah Mohre sent a shot towards the goal off a cleared corner kick and Kunle Akinfeleye re-directed it towards the corner to find the back of the net. Akinfeleye now leads the team in goals with three.

     http://youtu.be/KplsVPC3Dy0  - Akinfeleye Goal 

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The intensity of the game rose as we pushed even more for the game winner.  With just 50 seconds remaining Jared Fohs tossed a long throw into the box and several Bobcats went up to get the ball.  The W&J keeper could not get through the scrum of FSU attackers and the ball dropped right in front of the goal when Jones pounced on it for his second of the game.

 

http://youtu.be/Xbd-vFF4eko  - Jones Goal #2 

 

With two non-conference games left before CAC play we hope to continue our winning ways when head to Altoona on Tuesday for a 6pm game.

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Men's Soccer Suffers First Defeat of Season

We were at McDaniel on Saturday for our first road contest of the year.  I don't know if it was adjusting to the travel or playing on grass, but we just never got anything going and were defeated 3-0.

It was one of those games that we kind of saw coming.  Eventually someone was going to capitalize on the mistakes that we were making and McDaniel certainly did that.  About 15 minutes into the first half McDaniel put together a decent passing sequence aided by our lack of pressure on the ball and found the back of the net.  We struggled to generate much offense, but did start to gain a little possession toward the end of the half.

I thought we started out the second half looking pretty strong and felt it was just a matter of time before we got back into the game, but then we committed a stupid foul on the top of box which resulted in another McDaniel goal.  With 10 minutes remaining our center back got stripped and allowed McDaniel in on goal for their third of the game.

If nothing else hopefully this will serve as a wake up call and the boys will learn that against good teams little things can cost us the game.

We will have the opportunity to get back on track at home on Wednesday night as we face Waynesburg College at 7pm.

Bobcats Make it Three in a Row

We are still not playing up to our potential, but we are finding ways to win games and that is a good thing.  Wednesday night the boys found the back of the net three times to blank Bethany 3-0.

We have not played the prettiest style of soccer as we are struggling with doing a lot of the little things correctly, but we are keeping good shape in the back and not allowing to many scoring opportunities.  The offense is doing just enough to get us on the board and claim victory, but as the season progresses we'll need to be better on the ball and with our decision making.

Pablo Torrano got us on track early as he skillfully volleyed home a rebound off a shot by Jared Fohs in the third minute.  We controlled most of the play, but Bethany did create a few opportunities including a questionable off sides call that went in our favor when they were in on goal for a clear breakaway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUeM3vBEXbU

We seemed to calm down and gain a little more control in the second half.  Freshman Chris Herbert notched his second goal of the season when he followed up another rebound off a Torrano shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VfzWdZAeZg

Kunle Akinfeleye also tallied his second goal of the season when he out raced a defender and the goalkeeper to slot home the third goal of the game late in the match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQrv5AO7Gk

Senior Drew Hock picked up his second win of the season in goal while the defense of Chris Jones, Bernard Fatusin, Jared Fohs, Bryan Lentine, and Phil Nana combined for their third shut out of the season.

We will return to action Saturday at McDaniel College for a 4:30pm Kick-off.

FSU Defends Tournament Title

The boys claimed their third straight FSU Kick-off Tournament Championship this past weekend.  All the games were fairly competitive as three out of four went to overtime.

On Friday night we faced off against Grove City College.  This was a hard fought game as both teams worked extremely hard and had a lot of energy on opening day.  Neither team produced too many scoring opportunities, but Grove City did hold the advantage in shots.

With about a minute and a half left in the second overtime senior Chris Jones made a tackle in the box and freshman Chris Herbert launched a ball all the way down field to a charging Pablo Torrano.  Torrano took off and out competed two Grove City defenders for the ball and tucked away a left-footed shot in the corner to give us the opening day win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUp6PeHquZU

On day two the boys were able to get in more of a rhythm against Pitt Greensburg and were able to knock the ball around a little bit more.  Late in the first half Kunle Akinfeleye tapped home a sitter as Chris Jones slid the ball across the box after a corner kick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiw9mKk8iFI

Freshman Chris Herbert notched his first collegiate goal minutes after to give us the 2-0 lead and all the insurance we would need.  The defense did well holding Greensburg to just two shots including zero in the second half.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9PKbkSutzs

It was a great way to start the season getting two shut-outs at home, but we know we have a lot of work to do still.  We had some guys step up and play some significant minutes while we deal with some early season injuries.  We hope to have Kyle Walczak, Michael Norman, and freshman Jonah Mohre back in about a week, but will probably have to wait a little longer before Bryan Whitmore and Mitchell Muise can take the field.

We return to action on Wednesday night at 7pm against Bethany College.

Bobcats add Twelve New Players

The 2013 FSU men's soccer team has the strange dynamic of being an old and young team all at the same time. 

Although the team has 14 returning seniors we also have 12 new players on this years team.  11 freshman and 1 returning player who sat out the 2012 season make up this years class.  Returning for his sophomore season after leaving school for a year is winger Joe Clarke. 

New to this years team are forwards: Jonah Mohre (Penn Fusion), Jason Weatherly (Freestate), Nabayee Tesfu (Real Maryland) and Derek Fuller (ASA).  In the midfield will be Jonathan Lippitt (FC Frederick) and Chris Herbert (FC Frederick) while seeing time in defense will be Andrew Klotz (MD Rush) and Anthony DePaz (Calverton).  There are also 3 freshman GK's competing for the starting spot: Hassan Mostafa (Pachuca), Jackson Bicknell (SAC) and Quinn Jenkins (FC Frederick).

While we should have a lot of veteran leadership on the team we still lack some game experience as only 4 of the returning seniors were starters.

2013 Alumni Game

The annual Alumni game was a good way for the boys to wrap up their pre-season friendlies. 

With good numbers on the bench and an energetic attitude the Alumni jumped out to a 1-0 lead.  Unfortunately fatigue began to set in after about 15 minutes and the abundance of substitutions were not enough to hold the current players back.  After falling behind 4-1 Alex Super and Ryan Russell helped close the gap for the Alumni to 4-3, but it was not enough as the boys put one more away for a 5-3 victory.

It was a great day for the team to make some connections with the former players and to build some bonds with the guys for the future.

Thank you to all the Alumni who made it up for the day.  It was great to see a few guys that were on my first team here at FSU that had not made it back in a while to the Burgh.  I cannot leave out my loyal regular Alumni who consistently show up and make sure the weekend is a great success! 

Deep Creek Open 2013

On a slightly overcast day in McHenry, MD the boys enjoyed a break from their daily pre-season activities.  After a 2 year hiatus the Deep Creek Open returned with a competitive nature as 4 teams were all within 7 strokes of each other.

Taking home the 2013 Deep Creek Open Championship was seniors; Brandon Rodgers, Chris Jones, Jason Bennett, and Jared Fohs.  They edged out the team of freshman; Andrew Klotz, Jason Weatherly, Derek Fuller, and senior Collin Sainz by 3 strokes.

All in all it was good day for the boys to get a break from training and have a little fun....

Rodgers, Fohs, Bennett, and Jones