Men’s soccer falls to George Washington 3-0
The Saint Joseph’s University men’s soccer team dropped a 3-0 match against Atlantic 10 rival George Washington University on Oct. 15. The loss was the second in a row, and put the squad at 6-7-1 overall and 3-2 in the A-10.
“It was a lot closer than the score indicted,” Head Coach Don D’Ambra said. “We came out actually more aggressive than them and created a few good chances and we couldn’t put them away… They executed their chances. We just didn’t capitalize on any of ours.”
St. Joe’s senior Mori Diane had the team’s first shot on goal in the fourth minute. George Washington midfielder Garrett Heine gave the Colonials a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute, a score that stood for close to 60 minutes of play.
“The first one came off a cross,” D’Ambra said. “Their guy headed it, [junior goalkeeper] Greg [O’Connell] saved it, it kind of hit off the front of the post and it went right to their guy, and he tapped it in… So now you’re kind of trying to climb an uphill battle. It’s difficult to do on the road.”
St. Joe’s junior midfielder Matt Crawford added the Hawks’ second shot on goal in the 10th minute. O’Connell made his first and only save of the afternoon in the 27th minute, keeping the Hawks within one goal of the Colonials.
St. Joe’s sophomore Derek MacKinnon took a shot in the 57th minute, but George Washington goalkeeper Thor Arne made the stop to keep his team on top.
“We’ve just got to make sure that we defensively tighten up a little bit, and just keep trying to get shots on target and get a little bit more efficient,” D’Ambra said. “Two games ago [against George Mason University], we had some very nice finishes, so it’s just the way it went today [Saturday].”
About nine minutes later, the Colonials scored again to double their lead. Following a yellow card on St. Joe’s, George Washington added another goal to cap the day’s scoring.
The Hawks received full-game efforts from O’Connell, Crawford, and defenders junior Ben Zambetti, senior Mike Stuski, and sophomore Eddie McCusker. Sophomore Isaac Agyapong played 23 minutes off the bench and took two shots, one on goal.
The Hawks and Colonials each took nine shots, and had four shots on goal. The Hawks held a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.
“I think if we scored goal, it could have been a different game,” D’Ambra said. “You look for momentum swings when you’re on the road like that, and we just didn’t get it. I think [the early goal] was a big thing.”
Despite the loss, D’Ambra did see positive aspects from the team and believes they can learn and grow from it.
“The positive thing was we competed really well,” D’Ambra said. “We put ourselves in a situation that we had opportunities and it could have gone either way. When you’re in tight situations, that first goal is big. When they did that, we still competed.”
St. Joe’s will travel to Virginia Commonwealth University on Wednesday, Oct. 19 and return home to Sweeney Field to take on Duquesne University on Saturday, Oct. 22.
