Men’s soccer fell just short in a tough, well-played defensive battle at Colgate on Sunday losing by a final score of 1-0 to drop their winless record to 0-4-0 on the season.
Monmouth’s sophomore goalkeeper Sean Murray put together another strong performance in net for the Hawks recording five saves including back-to-back diving efforts in the second half to keep the score locked at zero. That makes 107 total saves for Murray in just 21 career starts in his collegiate career. The defensive side of the ball was far from the issue for the blue and white as they only allowed one goal on 13 shots while getting barely outshot by Colgate 13-12 as a team.
MU’s 12 shots were a season-high for the squad who put four on goal including two from junior midfielder John Antunes who attempted four shots total. Antunes had the first shot on goal of the game in the 33rd minute when he was denied in the lower right corner of the net by a Colgate save. The Hawks had another strong opportunity to take the lead in the 59th minute when sophomore forward Sebastian Rodriguez went for it all with a strike from 25 yards that clanged off the crossbar.
The Raiders lone goal and eventual game-winner came in the 71st minute. The Hawks had a chance to tie it right back up ten minutes later when they were gifted a penalty kick. The Colgate keeper read it beautifully however and rejected the MU scoring chance with a diving save to his left.
Monmouth came close to knotting the score up in the final seconds when Murray launched a last chance boot down the field to sophomore forward Ebenezer Owusu who got an opportunity for the equalizer inside the box. Colgate was able to deny the Hawks just like they had been all day wrapping up their first victory of the year while sending the blue and white home winless.
“I am proud of these young men,” said Head Coach Robert McCourt. “Today was a bitter pill to swallow.”
Monmouth started two players on the afternoon who had not yet started a game this season including redshirt freshman defenseman Declan McStravick and junior midfielder Santo Arena.
“We came to Colgate down six players to injury and went toe-to-toe with a very good, well-coached program,” said McCourt. “I thought we did well enough to get more in terms of the result, but again, I’m proud of these guys.”
Colgate also gained their leverage in the corner kick department where they outshot Monmouth 5-4 while both teams recorded 11 fouls in the game.
Looking forward Monmouth will continue to seek their first win of the season as they host 1-2-0 Princeton Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be played at Hesse Field on the Great Lawn and can be streamed on ESPN Plus.
PHOTO COURTESY of Monmouth Athletics
