Photo By Brandon Love
By Sophie Cole
The men’s soccer team fought their way to a tie in non-conference play against Stevenson on Wednesday night at Sassafras field.
The River Hawks started the game off a little slow, trying to find a response to the Mustangs’ aggressive style of play. SU, having trouble clearing the ball out of the box, conceded a goal to Stevenson with twenty-two minutes left to play in the first half, scored by sophomore forward Ellis Amo-Gottfried.
Sparked by a crucial save from SU goalkeeper Tony Burns in the 27th minute of the half, the River Hawks gained some momentum and were able to answer in the 34th minute off a free kick from outside of the box. With the assist from Max Paczewski, sophomore defender Zak Kreisher was able to put it in the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
The rest of the half remained scoreless after the Mustangs failed to convert on a free kick with four minutes left, and the teams went into halftime still tied at 1-all.
“We were hoping to be able to create a few more offensive chances, especially in the first half, than we actually did,” Susquehanna head coach Jim Findlay said. “We just wanted to move the ball a little faster.”
The second half was a defensive fight for both the River Hawks and the Mustangs as they both locked down each other’s offenses. With numerous attempts at goal from both teams, the score stayed the same. With just ten minutes left to play, the Mustangs were awarded a penalty kick, to be taken by Gianfranco Vitella. The kick was a line drive shot to the bottom left corner, but hit the post and ricocheted out of play.
The River Hawks had a chance to take the lead with five minutes left in the game, but Stevenson’s goalie, Nolen Olson-Warwick, made a great diving save to stop the River Hawks’ counter-attack. Throughout the second half, both teams’ goalkeepers and defenses came up with big stops, and the game resulted in a 1-1 draw.
As the River Hawks get ready to play the remainder of their conference games, head coach Jim Findlay said he’d like to work on, “Both offense and defense. We rely on the defense to create the offense because of our athletic ability and our style of high-pressuring teams. We just didn’t have that in the first half, so we have to get back to that again.”
The River Hawks will take on Lycoming on the road 3:30 p.m. Saturday.