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| D Bakary Coulibaly (#20) almost ties game late in 1st half |
Forever the optimist, I was likely the only one who thought the UDC Men's Soccer team would finish this season undefeated. The Firebirds (4-1) suffered their first loss of the season today, 1-0 at the hands of ECC rival St. Thomas Aquinas (2-1-1) in front of a sparse crowd at UDC Athletic Field.
After Spartans' freshman backer Julius Werner scored on a fluke header 20 minutes in, UDC went on a mad offensive - almost scoring on several occasions. Unfortunately for the home team, none of their 20 total shots got past goalkeeper Nathan Mangione (seven saves.) Mangione and UDC's Louis Connor were on top of their games today: The score could easily have been 4-3 with lesser guys in goal.
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| D Patrick Borchert (#3) free kick (G Louis Connor looks on) |
UDC dominated the second half, holding an 11-4 advantage in shots, five more corner kicks (8-3) and seven less fouls (5-12.) Freshman sensation Felix Angerer had seven shots (three on goal) and at least two great chances to tie the game. Sadly, all that effort couldn't eclipse the luck that St. Thomas Aquinas waltzed in with (I'm starting to sound like a homer... my apologies.)
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| Frosh F Sam Rowden (#11) |
It's not easy drawing a crowd at 3:00 in the middle of a weekday afternoon; but both the weather and price (FREE) were perfect. So far this season, the skill level displayed on the pitch is the best I've ever seen at UDC: It's a shame that more people can't enjoy it in person.
Speaking of... The Firebirds return home on Saturday, when they host the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) at 1:00 PM. The Bears lost their first game of the season today too (coincidence?) 3-0 to Mercy. Arrive early, as UDC celebrates the third annual Soccer Youth Day with a skills clinic starting at 10:30 AM, followed by an autograph session with coaches and players.
Click here for today's box score.
