The men’s soccer team earned one point this past Saturday, Oct. 18, when they came away with a scoreless tie on the road against the Quinnipiac University Bobcats. The contest was a rematch of last year’s MAAC Championship game, which the Bobcats took in a penalty kick shootout.
With the tie, the blue and white moved to 6-2-4 for the year, including a 2-0-3 record in the MAAC, while the Bobcats are now 6-4-3 overall and 3-0-2 in conference play. QU currently sits at third place in the MAAC, two spots ahead of the fifth place blue and white.
Behind sophomore goalie, Eric Klenofsky, the Hawks were able to record their fifth straight shutout, and eighth clean sheet on the season. The game marked MU’s fifth double overtime game of the year; MU holds a 1-0-4 record in these matches.
“Today was a great game,” said head coach Robert McCourt. “Both teams created good chances, and it was two teams playing a good brand of attractive soccer, which is great for a league.”
The Bobcats came out aggressive after the opening kick, and generated two scoring chances in the first ten minutes of the game. However, QU’s Ashton Pett’s shot in the fourth minute went wide of the net, and Machel Baker’s attempt in the ninth minute was blocked by an MU defender.
Things quickly changed after the early scare as the Hawks gained some momentum that resulted in two opportunities of their own. Unfortunately for MU, nothing came of the opportunities as senior forward, Dom Sarle, had his 11th minute attempt saved by QU goalie, Borja Angoita. Junior midfielder, Dan Pizzimenti also came close to scoring, however, he saw his shot go wide in the 12th minute of play.
QU was able to gain a bit of an upper hand the rest of the half, as they outshot the Hawks 3-1 over the next 30 plus minutes of play. Despite this shot differential, MU stayed tough and kept the game scoreless heading into the half time.
Klenofsky was key for the Hawks during the stretch, as he made saves on two of the three Bobcat attempts, one of which came in the final seconds of play.
Pizzimenti saw the first scoring opportunity for either team seven minutes into the second half. Angoita was up to the task, however, and made the save to keep the game tied at zero.
The Bobcats responded to their keeper’s effort and controlled the ball for the next ten minutes in perhaps their best offensive sequence of the game. QU’s attack included three shots in just over two minutes of play, but none found the back of the net. It appeared that QU’s James Greco had broken the tie in the 57th minute when he got the ball by Klenofsky, but his shot rung off the post, and the contest remained scoreless.
MU settled down after the attack, and was able to even out possession as the first 60 minutes of play came to a close.
In the 65th minute, Sarle again created a genuine scoring chance for the Hawks, but Angoita made his third save of the night to end the threat.
The final 25 minutes of regulation didn’t feature much action, as neither team saw another quality scoring chance. QU was able to get off three shots during the stretch, but none came close to posing a threat. Two of the attempts were blocked by MU defenders in the 79th and 86th minutes respectively, and the third sailed high over the net off the foot of John Diaz in the 69th minute.
Junior midfielder, David Acuna Camacho, gave one last ditch effort to end the game in regulation when he took a corner kick for the Hawks in the 89th minute. Nothing came of the opportunity, however, and the two teams headed into overtime.
Things didn’t change much during the two overtime periods. The Bobcats got off three shot attempts while the Hawks only managed one, but none were on goal, and time would eventually run out with the scored still locked at zero.
Although QU held a 14-6 advantage on total shots for the contest, MU was able to get more on net with a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal. Klenofsky had two saves on the night for the Hawks and MU’s defense also played strong with five blocked shots. Angoita made three saves for the Bobcats.
After two consecutive scoreless ties, the Hawks will look to earn a victory Wednesday, Oct. 22, when they travel to New Rochelle, NY to take on Iona who is currently second in the MAAC with a 4-2 record. Kickoff is set for 3 pm.
PHOTO COURTESTY of Greg Ott
