BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College men's soccer team used a strong 90-minute performance to hold on and pull out a 2-1 season-opening home win over the College of St. Joseph (Vt.) Thursday afternoon at Everett Field.
SVC's defense and goalkeeping played well, keeping the Fighting Saints off the scoreboard during live play. After a scoreless first half, the Mountaineers staked a 1-0 advantage early into the second period before adding to their lead with another strike in the 57th minute.
CSJ cut it down to a one-goal Southern Vermont upper hand with a successful penalty kick at the 64:41 mark, but that would be all the visitors could muster as the hosts kept St. Joseph out of the net for the remainder of the battle.
Southern Vermont begins the regular season 1-0, doing so for the first time since 2011 when now-head coach Greg Gilmore was a senior for SVC.; it's only the second time that the program has started the year with a victory since 2002. The Fighting Saints fall to 0-2 in the early-going of the 2016 campaign after the first meeting between the two sides since 2003.
"It's a really great way to start the season," Gilmore commented afterwards. "It emphasized the change we want to see in the program, and this was really the start that I tried to tell the guys we were hoping for."
The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday with a non-traditional 'home' game, hosting SUNY Cobleskill at Manchester's Applejack Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff under the lights. St. Joseph is back at home on Saturday, welcoming Dean College for a 2 p.m. start.
SVC's goals were provided by rookie junior Paddy McGovern (Cheshire, England) while the Fighting Saints' score came from sophomore Amani Francois (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Mountaineer freshman keeper Chris Jimenez (Newark, N.J.) came up with 10 saves in his first collegiate start (1-0).
The scoresheet was not as indicative of the action as it would appear, the 24-12 St. Joseph shot advantage coming as a result of the Fighting Saints pulling the trigger on a sizable amount of long-distance looks.
Southern Vermont's result comes after the team had not previously played against an outside opponent during the preseason. "We haven't had any live action," Gilmore noted. "To come out for the first time in 11-on-11 play and pull out a win like that-- it's a good sign and a great start to the season."
Neither side had solid opportunities through the opening 10 minutes of play, the only threatening shot being by St. Joseph junior Sergio Lopes (Pawtucket, R.I.). He fired a curling shot from about 35 yards out, putting it high on the frame and testing Jimenez just six minutes into the rookie's college career; the net minder appeared to handle it with ease, however, to keep CSJ off the board.
30 minutes into the half, SVC nearly broke through when sophomore captain Nikolas Joseph (Coventry, Conn.) played an exceptional through ball down the middle of the pitch where McGovern was able to run onto it; the junior's one-on-one attempt went slightly off frame to the left as the St. Joseph bench let out a sigh of relief.
CSJ's best look in the half came with 20 minutes left to go after the team played a series of short passes outside the top of the penalty area; Francois finally found enough space to spot up and rip a shot on frame, but it found the top-left corner hinge of the pipes and bounced out for the scoreless stalemate to continue.
Southern Vermont had a stellar chance late in the period as a cross was sent in from the left side of the field, bouncing through the box untouched. The Mountaineers were unable to connect for the go-ahead tally, and the halftime horn would sound shortly after as the teams went to the break still deadlocked.
About a minute into the second half, McGovern had to come off the field after going down with injury; Gilmore opted to play with one less man to save McGovern's reentry, going four minutes with only 10 players on the field. The extra rest payed off for the Mountaineer as he came back on in the 50th minute and immediately chalked up the team's first goal of the year.
SVC freshmanConnor Kristiansen (Shelton, Conn.) helped facilitate the play, corralling a clear near the midfield dot and sending a well-placed ball down the gut. Classmate Daniel Rangel (San Antonio, Texas) ran onto the pass near the left side of the goal line before playing a square ball to McGovern in front of the net, and the Mountaineer took a touch before punching it in from six yards out to put his team up 1-0.
Nearly six minutes later, McGovern again found the back of the net to give his team some insurance. He collected a pass on the right edge, made a quick turn and tapped the ball through his defender's legs. He went through space before ripping a shot past the CSJ keeper to give the Mountaineers a 2-0 lead.
That tally would hold for only 10 minutes as the Fighting Saints were afforded their penalty opportunity; St. Joseph senior Dominick Simpson (San Bernardino, Calif.) found the ball at his feet in the middle of the box and cracked a shot, only for it to go right at a well-place Jimenez who deflected the chance away. As a scrum ensued inside the 18, SVC was whistled for a foul which allowed CSJ the free shot. Francois made the most of it, giving his team a huge boost as he slotted the ball into the lower-right corner.
The latter stages of the match were met with high intensity from both sides while play got chippy as the Fighting Saints pushed for the equalizer; three cautions were issued in the final eight minutes of regulation, however, for the game to remain from getting out of the officials' hands.
CSJ nearly found the tying marker following a corner kick in the Mountaineers' end of the field, Francois getting a head on the ball from close range; Jimenez once again came up with the point-blank save, getting a hand on it for a deflection that kept the score at 2-1. Southern Vermont was able to get the ball down into opponent territory during the waning minutes, using a strong defensive midfield to keep play away from its own net as the clock would down to zeros.
– #LetsGoSVC –