Competes in third overtime game and gains first victory
The Hawks earned their first win against the Villanova Wildcats at the Great Lawn on Wednesday, September 11. Sophomore midfielder Tomas Penfold scored within the first minute of overtime to finish the game with a score of 2-1.
In the first half, Villanova made the initial goal off a ball sent into the box by Wildcat Adetomiwa Adewole which found Wildcat, Oscar Umar, who was able to head the ball into the net.
MU came back to tie the game by the end of the first half in an unusual fashion. Sophomore midfielder, David Acuna Camacho kicked the ball towards the Villanova net from just about the midfield line. Wildcat goalie, Andrew Weakly, read the ball poorly and it bounced right over his head marking Camacho’s first collegiate goal.
“Scoring was pretty lucky,” Camacho said in regards to his tying goal. “Sometimes you just get luck but we needed the goal so I am very happy about it.”
Camacho acted as captain for the game after senior midfielder Joseph Schmid had to sit due to a red card in a previous match. Aware of the big responsibility which being captain entails, Camacho does not feel too much added pressure with his duty. Instead, he just hoped to lead his team in what he believes to be a great program.
As the first half came to a close, the Hawks were mostly on the offensive side with ten attempted shots made on Weakly. Villanova totaled one shot which also accounted for the only goal they scored.
The second half began and ended with the scoreboard reading the same numbers, 1-1. Villanova shot five times and Monmouth made six attempts in the half while Weakly made two saves on net. The Hawks junior goalkeeper, Stephen Graziani, made one save in the second half.
Villanova had the closest opportunity to prevent the game from going into overtime when Camacho made a foul at the 16 yard line giving the Wildcats an open shot on net. Fortunately for the Hawks, Villanova shot the ball too high sending the Hawks into what would be their third overtime game of the season.
Within the first minute of overtime, MU freshman midfielder, Colin Stripling, stole the ball from Villanova and passed it to junior forward, Edney Derrick. The ball reached senior forward, Francois Paco Navarro. Navarro then passed it off to Penfold who shot a hard struck ball right under the cross bar for the win.
“I saw the ball playing down the right side while Paco was making the run, so I was trailing a little bit because I saw he was at the end line. I was sure he was gonna hit the ball back and he did, it was great,” Penfold said.
The Hawks outnumbered the Wildcats in shots 17-6, and corner kicks 8-5.
“We thought we did enough to win the game in regulation,” head coach Robert McCourt said of the Hawks many opportunities to prevail. “It’s nice to get a dramatic win, but I prefer to win it in regulation. We created a bunch of good goal scoring chances in the game, but I do think in overtime games, our guys really show character.”
With the new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) games being played later in the season, McCourt hopes to become the team who does the hunting down of wins instead of being the hunted.
McCourt’s analogy did not hold true as the Hawks fell to the Boston University Terriers on Saturday, September 14 with a final score of 3-0.
BU first scored in the 27th minute when MU turned the ball over which resulted in a goal for Terrier, Felix De Bona. The Terriers next scored in the 63rd minute of play as a head ball tricked Graziani bringing the score to 2-0. The third goal for BU occurred in the 88th minute of play when a ball just skimmed the left post and found the back of the net.
Although the Hawks were unable to secure their second victory, McCourt said it was a good test for his team.
“I think it’s a good match since it’s two teams that play the same brand of soccer, I think they’re [Boston University] a very talented team,” McCourt said.
Even though the Hawks could not find the frame, they outshot the Terriers 12-11 and had more four more corner kicks than BU. With the weekend finished, the men’s soccer team posts a 1-3-1 record.
MU returns to the Great Lawn on Friday, September 20 to host the UAlbany Great Danes at 7 pm.
PHOTO COURTESY of MU Athletics
