Men's Soccer Drop First Conference Game Against Medaille

Men's Soccer Drop First Conference Game Against Medaille

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The La Roche men's soccer team lost their fourth home game of the season in a tough battle with conference opponent Medaille College. The Redhawks capitalized on the few opportunities they got but it was not enough to get past a relentless Medaille. The game was a physical back and forth matchup that had three yellow cards, 21 fouls and one scrum. 

Final: La Roche: 2, Medaille: 3

Records: La Roche (2-7), Medaille (3-3-1)

The Mavericks scored the first two goals of the contest in the 20th and 30th minutes of the first half. Senior Midfielder, and captain, Mitchell Ali contributed an assist and notched one of the Mavericks two goals of the first half. The Redhawks on the other hand did not record a single shot in the first 45 minutes of the contest. Had Austin Gorman not made a few miraculous saves, the deficit would have been much worse. He finished the match with 10 total, the most saves he has recorded in a single game all season. This year, Gorman has 51 saves total, currently ranked 3rd in the AMCC. 

In the second half, the Redhawks came back with a vengeance, scoring two goals within the first 15 minutes of the half. For the first goal, Senior midfielder Firas Abduljawad passed the ball to a running Kyle Harriet who finished the job by putting the ball in the bottom right corner of the net. (Season Stats: Harriet, 5 goals | Abduljawad, 3 assists). Harriet and Abduljawad lead the Redhawks in those categories respectively. The second goal started when Senior defender Ty Savochka took a free from 40 yards out and found the head of Freshman defender Jake Gorman to tie the contest at two goals a piece. 

Medaille spoiled La Roche's comeback in the 69th minute of the contest when Ali headed the ball into the back of La Roche's net off a feed from a Maverick forward. Ali finished with 5 points on the day. 

The Redhawks made the most of the opportunities they had this afternoon. Although they were out-shot 15-5 in shots on goal, they only lost the match by one goal.

NEXT UP: The men's soccer team continues their conference schedule next Saturday (9/28) at D'Youville beginning at 2:00 p.m.