The men’s soccer team hits the road again this weekend, as it travels to Washington, D.C. to face American (3-3-1) tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. The Red (1-3-0) is coming off two tough losses at the Bradley Invitational last weekend in Illinois, falling to No. 21 Coastal Carolina and Florida Atlantic. The Eagles are winners of two straight, after defeating George Mason last weekend.
“American is a very, very good team, and we’ve played a bunch of good teams now, and unfortunately, we’re 1-3,” said head coach Bryan Scales. “The guys are learning stuff as they go along.”
Against Coastal Carolina, the Red suffered a huge loss, as junior forward Steve Reuter went down with an injury 15 minutes into the game. One of the booters’ offensive weapons, Reuter scored two goals in the season opener against St. Bonaventure. Sophomore Pape Seye came in to replace Reuter up top, and registered four shots.
“Steve is day-to-day, they tell me. We’re not quite sure what his status is,” remarked Scales. “Steve thinks he might be able to play. I’m not so willing to risk him right away. If he can’t go, then Pape will be the guy that we throw up there.”
In the end, Coastal Carolina’s Joseph Ngwenya was too much for the Red to handle, as he netted a hat trick to put Cornell away, 3-0. Junior goalkeeper David Mahoney stopped seven shots in the loss.
Hoping to bounce back against Florida Atlantic, the Red had the go-ahead goal disallowed on an offsides call. Down 1-0, freshman Ryan Imamura scored his first collegiate goal on assists from junior Peter Lynch and freshman Tom Marks at the start of the second half. The Owls scored with five minutes left to notch the victory.
American looks to continue its stinginess on defense this weekend, as it has allowed only one goal in each of its last three games. In net for the Eagles is junior Thomas Myers, who has a goals against average of 0.97 for the season and has started in all seven contests. Leading the offense for American are juniors Peter Philipakos and Andrew Herman, who are first and second in scoring, respectively.
Philipakos netted the lone goal against Georgetown in the D.C. College Cup in August, giving the Eagles its second-ever tie against the Hoyas. Freshman Salvatore Caccavale leads the team with three assists.
Having played two teams in each of the first two weekends, the Red will be able to solely focus on tomorrow’s game.
“It’s easier to play one game fitness wise and physically,” commented Scales. “We’re going to work on some specific things and taper the guys down for this weekend and get them ready.”
Having faced several good teams already this season, the booters look to gain momentum going into the Ivy portion of their schedule, which starts next weekend.
“We’re going to go for a win on the road again. The schedule has not been kind to us, and that’s just the way we set it up,” said Scales. “[American will] be a very good team, and we’re looking forward to playing them.”
Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach