Men’s Soccer Stands Tall
October 29, 2014
With only couple of bumps in the way, the men’s soccer team has started the season off on a hot streak.
In mid Oct., the Cougars fell to Eastern with a score of 1-0. The Cougars had close opportunities from Rob Wiacek and Nate Mansfield in the overtime period. Chris Panagacos and Derek Antonini also had shots to get by the Eastern goalkeeper. Cougars goalkeeper Barry Fitzgerald had four saves in net with one full extension dive in the 26 minuets the Cougars kept the score tied at zero.
In Manhattanville, the Cougars proved a point and overcame the heartbreaking lost against Eastern. Christopher Edkins and Derek Antonini both added goals for the Cougars. In the 87th minute Rob Wiacek scored off of Kevin Mation’s free kick, lifting the Cougars to the 3-2 lead, which was the final score. Nick vonEgypt was another key player with an amazing pass from the top of the box in the 71st minute, which then was finished by Antonini.
The Cougars are in second place in the Freedom Conference with Wilkes and King’s both at 2-1. The Cougars will take a short bus trip over to Wilkes Wednesday night for kick off at 7 p.m.
The Cougars are in great shape for making it to the playoffs, and a win against Wilkes will help the Cougars move up the ranks.
“We have had a couple tough losses in our non-conference games, but we’ve played tight with the best teams in the nation. We have a lot of experience on our team and so far it is showing in conference,” said senior Tim Ryan. We had a tough loss in double overtime to Eastern the other day, but that only means one thing. We need to narrow our focus and elevate to win out the rest of our conference games,” said Ryan.
Ryan added that the Cougars will meet Eastern again.
“We won’t forget that overtime loss to Eastern, and we’ll make sure they get that message when we see them again in the playoffs.”
Ryan demonstrates that the Cougars are out for one goal: to get back to the NCAA’s.
Senior Nick vonEgypt said the team always finds ways to make do. “ We have had some difficulties this year with injuries, but we have had guys fill those roles successfully,” said vonEgypt. “We expect to win the rest of our conference games and host at least the semi-final conference game. We also expect to take back the conference title at the end of this season. We also want to be the first men’s Soccer Team to win a game in the NCAA tournament.”
With a win, the Cougars will be in the driver’s seat on the road to the playoffs. With standing at 9-5-2, the Cougars have only three more games until the regular season is over. Two of those games are on the road.
The Cougars beat Wilkes last season with a final score of 3-2 at home.
This week of soccer should be very interesting, with three local teams fighting for the first place spot entering the playoffs.
