Key Contests Took Place Before Enthusiastic crowds At Venues Across The Country.
Rutgers 2 – Indiana 1 – Things began as expected at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington in this Big Ten season opener when redshirt junior defender Daniel Munie collected a loose ball at the top of the 18-yard box and sent Indiana’s first shot attempt of the evening into the back of the frame to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 advantage.
The remainder of the half was a stalemate with both teams ending the half with three shot attempts and the Hoosiers holding a 1-0 advantage. The complexation of the match changed in the 58th minute when Rutgers scored its first goal in Bloomington since 2015 when freshman Nico Rosamilia’s sent a deflected pass into the left corner of the net in a very congested box. Hoosier netminder Roman Celentano was able to get a hand on the shot but unable to keep it out of the net. The goal was Rosamilia’s third of the year to date.
The teams battled back and forth with both teams trying to find the go ahead goal. Rutgers came up with the big play they needed to secure the lead and shock the Hoosiers and the Bloomington faithful when Jackson Temple utilized his right foot to loft a shot shot at an incredible angle into the upper right corner of the net from within the box. Temple’s goal was set up by a nice combination of passes the last of which came from sophomore forward Ola Maeland who was credited with the assist.
The Scarlet Knight defense anchored by backs Thomas DeVizio, Joey Zalinsky, Vincent Borden, Hugo Le Guennec and Chris Tiao and junior goalkeeper Oren Asher who had a two save evening did a good job of containing a potentially very productive Indiana attack that was never able to put together the combinations that they needed in order to get into a rhythm.
It was a confidence and statement making win for Rutgers under the direction of third year head coach Jim McElderry. The Scarlet Knights improve to 6-0-1 securing their the program’s first win over a ranked team since 2015. Rutgers will host Penn on Monday.
Indiana drops to 3-2-1 and will seek to regroup and get back on track when they travel to face Northwestern on Tuesday night.
Clemson 3 – Boston College 0 – The Tigers opened ACC play at Historic Riggs Field before a good crowd with an impressive win over the Eagles.
Junior forward Isaiah Reid sent the rebound of sophomore forward Ousmane Sylla’s shot into the back of the net in the 17th minute of the match to give Clemson a lead they would never relinquish. The teams went into intermission with Clemson up 1-0 but with the outcome still very much in doubt.
The Tigers took control of the contest in the second half with Josh Hallenberger scoring in the 67th minute with a double assist from Brandon Parrish and Tim Strobeck. Parrish then put the game on ice for Clemson when he scored in the 83rd minute with a helper from midfielder Quinn McNeill.
A talented Clemson defense anchored by goalkeeper George Marks who had a five save evening and backs Charlie Asensio, Oskar Agren, Justin Malou, and Hamady Diop took care of business recording the programs sixth shutout of the year. Senior Christian Garner had four saves in goal for Boston College.
Clemson, the number one team in the nation in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll, improves to 7-0-0 and will travel to face UNCG in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday.
Boston College, who came into this match on a four game unbeaten streak, drop to 3-2-1 under second year head coach and former BC player Bob Thompson. The Eagles will seek to get back into the win column when they travel to face Yale out of the Ancient Eight on Tuesday.
Penn State 2 – Northwestern 1 – Northwestern under first year head coach Russel Payne went up 1-0 in the 12th minute of play when forward Justin Weiss found the back of the net from the middle of the box after receiving a pass from midfielder Vicente Castro. The Wildcats appeared capable of pulling off the upset when they went into intermission with a 1-0 advantage.
Penn State came out on the front foot with renewed energy in the second stanza and the momentum of the match quickly shifted their way when forward Liam Butts drove a shot into the top right corner of the net just 19 seconds into the half to knot the contest a 1-1. Butts again came up big for the Nittany Lions a little more than five minutes later when he scored what proved to be the game-winning goal from six yards out after receiving a cross from forward Danny Bloyou.
Kris Shakes had two saves in goal for Penn State while Miha Miskovic had four stopes between the pipes for Northwestern.
It was a good come from behind win for the Nittany Lions before an enthusiastic crowd of Penn State faithful. The Nittany Lions rebound from a 1-0 loss at home to Pitt on Monday to improve to 4-2-1. It was a tough loss for a determined Northwestern team that is now 2-3-2 but likely to win a lot of games before the season is over.
Notre Dame 1 – NC State 0 – This ACC matchup took place in South Bend. Defense ruled and it looked like this one might end up scoreless. Both teams attacked and had several near misses but neither team was able to break the code on their opponents defense until graduate student Dawson McCartney skillfully utilized his left foot to slot a shot into the left corner of the net after receiving a pass from Daniel Russo in the 84th minute of the contest to give the Irish the edge they needed to secure the win.
Notre Dame had a 10 to 9 advantage in shots for the evening. Bryan Dowd had one save in goal for Notre Dame and Leon Krapf had one save in goal for the Wolfpack.
The Irish improve to 2-3-1 and NC State is now 4-3-0.
Marshall 2 – West Virginia 2 (OT) – Marshall came into the match ranked as the number five team in the nation and West Virginia as the number six team by College Soccer News. The United Soccer Coaches Poll ranked West Virginia as the number four team and placed Marshall in the number six spot.
High profile games like this one often don’t live up to the pregame billing. This one did and then some before an electric record setting crowd at Hoops Family Field in Huntington.
Both teams wanted a win and were likely disappointed with a tie but both left this one with a lot that they can build on. The Herd had the upper hand in terms of the number of scoring opportunities with a 15 to 9 advantage in shots and twice came back from a goal down to knot the score. West Virginia did a really good job of finding space that they could exploit and of maintaining their composure playing on the road before a partisan Marshall crowd.
At the end of the day the play of both teams reflected well on their potential for the remainder of the season.
As expected this was an intense and physical contest from beginning to end. Both teams attacked while also trying to maintain their shape on the defensive side of the ball and avoid creating a seam that their opponent could exploit.
West Virginia drew first blood with senior forward Yoran Popovic finding the back of the net with a helper from teammate junior midfielder Luke McCormick in the 17th minute of the game.
Marshall immediately responded with fifth-year senior Pedro Dolabella scoring out of a corner kick served in by senior Vitor Dias less than two minutes later to knot the score at 1-1 and bring the Marshall faithful to their feet.
The contest went back and forth with both sides seeking to gain the upper hand. It was West Virginia that broke through with three minutes remaining in the first stanza when a combination of passes between midfielder Albelda Jimenez and forward Tony Pineda led to a goal from sophomore forward Ciro Bourlot Jaeggi. The contest went into intermission with West Virginia up 2-1 and the outcome very much in doubt.
Marshall came out firing in the second half and was able to capitalize on a free kick opportunity from 25 yards out when junior Max Schneider sent a rocket into the lower corner of the lower corner of the net to knot the contest at 2-2.
Neither team scored during the remainder of regulation nor in two overtime periods. West Virginia played a man down for the last two minutes of the contest due to the receipt of a red card but Marshall was unable to exploit the man advantage.
West Virginia netminder Steven Tekesky had a four save evening. Oliver Semmle had three saves in goal for Marshall.
Marshall head coach Chris Grassie stated, “We created the chances to win the game and we created them four times near the end of the game. We just have to finish one and in the future we will finish one.” He added, “I’m so happy that everyone came out to support us and it makes a big difference. It is such a phenomenal environment.”
West Virginia head coach Dan Stratford stated, “This was a great advertisement for college soccer and for the state of West Virginia.” He added, “Those were two, top-five teams; it was a fair reflection of where we are, and it was a really interesting game.”
West Virginia is now 4-0-2. Marshall is 3-1-2. The contest ended in a tie but this one was a win for college soccer.
Wake Forest 3 – Pittsburgh 1 – Everything seemed to come together for Wake Forest in this key ACC contest against a Pittsburgh team that never seemed to get in gear in what has been a roller coaster up and down season to date.
The Demon Deacons got on the board in the 16th minute of the match when senior forward Kyle Holcomb doing what the best finishers consistently do when he alertly and decisively sent the rebound of teammate Omar Hernandez’s shot into the back of the frame.
Sophomore back Garrison Tubbs then converted what proved to be the game-winning goal for Wake Forest when he placed a header into the net served in out of a corner kick by redshirt junior midfielder Jake Swallen during the 24th minute of the match. The goal was Tubbs first of the season and the assist was Swallen’s third so far during the 2021 season. The contest remained 2-0 at halftime.
Sophomore midfielder Chase Oliver added Wake Forest’s final goal of the evening in the 69th minute with freshman midfielder Leo Guarino providing the helper. Pitt got on the board in the 80th minute via a Velijko Petkovic goal. The goal was Petkovic’s fifth of the season but it was too little too late to alter the outcome of the match.
Wake Forest secures their first win over a ranked team this season to improve to 3-2-0 with a 1-1-0 mark in ACC play. The win provides new life for a Demon Deacon team that was topped 3-0 by Louisville in their ACC season opener last Friday.
Pitt drops to 4-3-0 with a 1-1-0 mark in conference play.
Maryland 2 – Michigan 1 – This Big Ten contest took place at Ludwig Field on the campus of the University of Maryland before a crowd of over 3,000 fans.
The Terps came out on the front foot seeking to take charge from the get-go but Michigan did a good job of keeping the Maryland attack in check during the first half of play. The contest remained scoreless after 45 minutes of play.
The Terps took charge of the match in the second stanza with Joshua Bolma breaking the ice with a goal in the 55th minute and Justin Harris making it 2-0 in the 64th minute with a double assist from Malcolm Johnston and Ben Bender. Michigan made it interesting when Derick Broche scored with an assist from Kevin Buca to narrow the gap to 2-1 in the 73rd minute but that concluded the scoring for the evening.
Freshman Hayden Evans had eight saves in goal for Michigan. Niklas Neumann had one save in goal for Maryland.
It was a good win for a surging Maryland team that rebounded from a 1-0 loss to Georgetown last Saturday to improve to 5-1-0 and begin Big 10 play with a win. Michigan drops to 3-3-1 with a 0-1-0 mark in Big Ten action.
Maryland will host High Point University on Monday and travel to face an Ohio State team next Friday that upset Akron 1-0 on Wednesday. Michigan under the guidance of Chaka Daley is now 3-3-1 and will seek to return to the win column when they welcome Notre Dame to Ann Arbor on Tuesday and Northwestern on Sunday.
Virginia Tech 2 – Virginia 1 (OT) – This one used to be dominated by Virginia but that is no longer the case due to the resurgence of the Virginia Tech program. A crowd of 2,725 fans were on hand in Blacksburg at Thompson Field to witness this rivalry match that included six yellow cards between in-state and ACC foes.
Both teams attacked but were unable to finish the opportunities that came their way during the first stanza of play.
Things changed quickly in the second half when Jacob Labovitz drove a header into the bottom right portion of the goal that was set up by a nice ball from Kyle McDowell out of a free kick to give Virginia Tech a 1-0 advantage. To their credit a young Virginia team remained composed and got back into the match in the 58th minute when freshman forward Asparuh Slavov made a brilliant highlight reel move to create the space and the angle he needed from outside the box to rifle a shot into the upper right corner of the net to tie the game at 1-1 The match remained tied at the end of regulation. Labovitz then came through in the clutch once again for the Hokies as time was running out in the first overtime period when when he sent a header into the net that was set up by a perfect cross from Pol Monells.
It was a big win for a Virginia Tech team under head coach Mike Brizendine that is 3-1-2 overall with a 1-1-0 mark in ACC play after opening conference play with a loss on the road to Duke.
It was also a gutsy performance for a Virginia team that is 2-3-1 with a 0-2-0 mark in ACC action that is highly likely to continue to grow and enhance the level of their play under the direction of veteran head coach George Gelnovatch as the season progresses.
Bowling Green 2 – FIU 0 – It was a statement win for a Bowling Green team that topped a highly regarded and ranked FIU side at Cochrane Stadium in Bowling Green. The win was the 100th for Bowling Green head coach Eric Nichols.
Although the contest was scoreless at halftime, the Falcons pretty much got the best of the run of play and possession from the beginning to end.
Everything fell into place for Bowling Green when senior midfielder Sergi Martinez who transferred in from the University of Hartford scored from the six yard box in the 59th minute of play out of a throw-in with defenders Jacob Erlandson and Joey Akpunonu providing the helpers.
Redshirt senior Roberto Fernandez Garrido contributed the second goal for the Falcons when he skillfully lofted a picture perfect shot into the back of the frame over the top of the FIU keeper from within the 18-yard box that was set up by a well timed and played pass from Martinez.
Junior Logan Kowalczyk recorded the shutout in goal for Bowling Green with a two save evening. The shutout was the fifth of the year for a Bowling Green defensive anchored in the back by defenders Akpunonu, Erlandson, and Michael Montemurri and netminder Kowalczyk. Grant Makela had three saves between the pipes for FIU.
FIU drops to 4-1-1 and Bowling Green whose lone loss of the season is a 1-0 setback to Marshall improves to 5-1-1.
Pictures from Wake Forest and Virginia Tech Athletics
