Men's Soccer Wins USCAA First Round Game 4-3 on PK's

_________________________________________________________________________________________

| 11/10/2022 6:00 PM | Kevin Turi, Sports Information Coordinator

Virginia Beach, VA

The Bryant & Stratton College- Syracuse Men's Soccer team earned their first win in the USCAA National Championship Tournament 2-1 after defeating Salem University 4-3 in Penalty Kicks.

How it Happened:

The defending USCAA National Champion Bryant & Stratton College- Syracuse Men's Soccer team opened up their title defense with a difficult matchup versus the 6-seed,Salem University.  The Bobcats opened the match flying and created several golden opportunities to open the scoring, but were unable to do so.  Despite out-shooting Salem 13-2 in the first half, the scoreline remained 0-0 heading into the half.

The match remained scoreless all the way unitl the 72nd minute with both teams creating chances in the first 20-minutes of the second half.  However, a cross played into Shawn Altidor Viau who rifled a shot off the crossbar lead to what would be the opening goal for the Bobcats.  Altidor Viau's shot landed perfectly at the feet of Azinho Solomon who made no mistake slotting the ball into the back of the net.

However, the Bobcats were unable to hold onto this lead for the final 18 minutes of the match and conceded a late penalty kick to Salem University which evened the score, 1-1.

The match would head to two 10-minute overtime periods followed by a penalty kick shootout. In the overtime periods, neither side created many chances as both sides stayed compact defensively to ensure at least a chance in a shootout.

A chance in a shootout is all that the Bobcats would need as Senior Goalkeeper, Giovanni Gallina came up huge with two big saves for the Bobcats.  First Year, Jonathan Zamora, stepped up with the 5th and final penalty kick in the shootout for the Bobcats with a chance to win them a crucial 3 points in Pool A play.

The penalty kick looked never in doubt as Zamora coolly tucked the penalty inside the left post giving the Bobcats a 4-3 victory in penalties.

"Winning a game in this fashion is such a testament to the fight that our group has," said Head Coach Nick Dimitrievski.  "We battled throughout the entire match and did not give up when calls went against us in crucial moments.  Our experienced leaders stepped up in a major way for us this afternoon and I am proud of the way that our younger guys performed as well.  Winning at this point in the season is always going to be difficult and we have given ourselves a great opportunity moving forward."

Next Game:

The Bryant & Stratton College- Syracuse Men's Soccer team will have a quick turnaround as they play their second game of Pool A play tomorrow November 11th, against Manor College at 12:15pm.

Be sure to follow all of our social media platformas @bscbobcatssyr for updates, videos, and more!