By Otto Gomez Staff Writer
The College’s men’s soccer team continued their strong play against Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday, Sept. 9, with a 2-1 victory to complete their first tournament of the season. They improved their record to 4-0, and many players are not surprised by their hot start.
“What we’ve done better this year is believe in ourselves more,” junior forward Sean Etheridge said. “It has been a very positive start to the season so far and we can’t wait to carry this momentum into our next game.”
The scoring started 27 minutes into the game when sophomore Peter Dresch charged into the box and redirected a cross from junior Thomas Hogue into the back of the net. However, it didn’t take long for the Ducks to respond. Four minutes later, Ducks senior Joe Cellitti was able to get a shot past Lions junior keeper Jake Nesteruk to even up the score. Lions’ senior midfielder Matthew Ziegler almost broke the tie with an attempt at the end of the half, but it was saved at the last second by Ducks goalie Mike Renna. It wasn’t until there was less than 20 minutes left in regulation time that freshman defender Joerg Jauk moved up to take a direct kick near the Stevens penalty area and nailed a shot inside the near post to take the lead. The 2-1 score held behind the Lions’ defense, anchored by Nesteruk’s three saves.
After defeating the No. 21 ranked in the NJAC, Ducks, the Lions headed to Newark Saturday, Sept. 12, to compete in their second tournament of the season. Facing off against Johns Hopkins University, the game ended in a 3-3 draw. After trailing 1-0 at halftime, Hogue found himself a deflected ball that he would put into the back of the net in the 62nd minute. Three minutes later, junior Nick Costelloe scored his fourth of the season to break the tie on a feed from Dominic Polidoro. The two teams once again scored back to back goals, making the score, 3-2. However, the Blue Jays struck last in the 75th minute to tie everything up at three goals apiece. For the rest of the game, the defenses held strong, not allowing anyone a chance to score. Nesteruk registered six saves after facing 24 total shots.
The Lions finished their tournament on Sunday, Sept. 13 against New York University. Initially falling behind by a goal, the Lions rallied three goals to win. Costelloe took advantage of a penalty kick in the first period to put away his team-leading fifth goal of the season. Hogue put the Lions ahead with an assist from freshman midfielder Nick Sample.
The icing on the cake came with just seven minutes remaining when junior midfielder Clayton Flon scored to put away the win.
The team will head to Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus to take on the Devils on Wednesday Sept. 16, 2015.
