Photo Courtesy of Emma Pettingill
By Hannah Grove, Staff Writer
Susquehanna’s men’s soccer team was home Tuesday, September 21, at 7 p.m. versus Alvernia. After winning their last two games the River Hawks were on a mission to win their third. After being on the road and having an outstanding performance the team was planning on having another great win with a home advantage. The first half saw the men come out hot, a usual occurrence for the team. Although Alvrernia had the first shot on goal and Susquehanna had three fouls within the first five minutes of the game a goal came along with it for the River Hawks. Senior midfielder Joe Armstrong had a goal at the 5:28 minute mark. The goal was assisted by senior Brian McKee. Alvernia took the ball down field and tried to put a point on the board but with a smart defense they were caught offsides multiple times. After the Susquehanna goal they only had two more shots on goal and many substitutions. The rest of the first half the ball was back and forth over the midfield line. Going into halftime the score remained 1-0, Susquehanna.
Starting the second half Susquehanna was playing defense for about 20 minutes. They were then able to clear the ball and regain possession. The ball was brought back down the field on Alvernia’s defensive half of the field. Freshman Max Paczewski had an amazing header shot but was unfortunately saved around the 65- minute mark. Just five minutes later and after substitutions Alvernia scored to tie up the game 1-1. With the clock running down there were substitutions from both teams. In between the substitutions Alvernia took a few more shots, a majority being wide or high. Like the start of the second half Susquehanna was again playing defense. With eight minutes left in the second half Alvernia capitalized again and put themselves in the lead for the first time all game. Susquehanna fell short and was not able to extend their winning streak. The final score was 1-2.
Following a tough home loss to Alvernia the men’s team was back on the road to Scranton. Kick off was at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 25. After falling short to Alvernia the men’s team had a few days of practice to prepare for the Scranton Royals. Although the boys were unaware they were in it for the long haul, the game ended going into double overtime. The first half of the game was very physical, fouls were called, and junior Walter Wyatt for Susquehanna received a yellow card 26 minutes into the first half. Both teams had opportunities to score off of corner kicks, but Susquehanna was not able to finish. In the first half Susquehanna was out shot by Scranton. The first half ended with a score of 0-0.
Within the first five minutes of the second half Susquehanna had three shots, one being on goal and two of them going wide. After 10 minutes of play another card was given to a Scranton player. The physicality of the game was consistent throughout. The second half there were more fouls called than shots. The ball was on both halves of the field; a lot of the second half was just a lot of possession from both teams. With six minutes left Scranton received another yellow card. The second half ended with the score at 0-0.
Regulation time ended and the first 10 minutes of overtime began. Susquehanna did more defending than attacking. Scranton got two shots off and were both saved by Susquehanna goalkeeper Gerrit Stech. In the second overtime junior Michael Morelli had a shot on goal but was saved. During the second half of overtime two more yellow cards were given to Scranton. Unfortunately, Susquehanna was unable to capitalize on any of the chances they had offensively. After going into double overtime, the final score was 0-0.
