By Otto Gomez Staff Writer
The men’s soccer team continued their season in Madison, N.J., against Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham on Wednesday, Sept. 16, with a 2-2 draw. The Lions were just ranked 18th in the nation for Division III after starting out the season 5-0-2, while the opposing Devils were 2-3-1.
Although the Devils scored the lone goal of the first half, the Lions quickly surged in the second half to take a 2-1 lead.
Freshman midfielder Nick Sample was able to net an unassisted goal only four minutes into the half. Less than 10 minutes later, sophomore midfielder Peter Dresch scored his third of the season to take the lead for the College.
However, not even 10 minutes later, the Devils evened up the score at two goals a side. Junior forward Thomas Hogue almost won the game with a goal of his own, but came up short in overtime and after two 10-minute overtime periods, the game ended in a draw.
The Lions advanced to play Rutgers-Newark in their first inter-conference game of the season on Saturday, Sept. 19. The team fell to the Scarlet Raiders 3-2, ending their undefeated streak.
Similar to their previous game, the Lions trailed 1-0 at half and managed to tie the game early in the second half.
Freshman defender Nick Provenzano scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Sample. However, a minute and a half earlier, the Lions broke down and let in another quick goal from Rutgers-Newark. Even though Hogue was finally successful this game in scoring a little later off another assist from Sample, the Scarlet Raiders scored a clutch goal right before the end of regulation, giving the Lions their first loss of the season.
“It has been a positive start to the season,” junior forward Sean Etheridge said about their season so far. “We’re going to just keep playing our game and keep doing what has made us successful in the past.”
The Lions look to rebound against Drew University on Wednesday, Sept. 23, when they host them at Lions’ Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
