A fortunate bounce and a key offsides call powered Marist men’s soccer to their first win of the season, a 1-0 victory over Army to cap their season-opening road trip.
After being soundly defeated by Wisconsin, Marquette and Cornell to open the season, the Red Foxes (1-3) sought to salvage the end of their four-game road jaunt. Facing a regional rival in Army, Marist looked like a different team on Thursday night. A stout defensive performance and a consistent attack led to a game-winning second-half goal from freshman forward/midfielder Chris Verheul, who had a breakout performance in the match.
Army (1-3-1) also aimed to right the ship coming off a 1-0 loss to Sacred Heart. Like Marist, the Black Knights came painstakingly close to scoring on numerous occasions, but in the end, the Red Foxes emerged on the right side of a few pivotal plays.
Marist almost received an own-goal gift from Army in the fifth minute. Sophomore midfielder Sean Adu-Gyamfi headed the ball back towards his own goalkeeper, freshman Keanu Likewise, but with Likewise not fully back in position, the ball nearly slipped past him. Ultimately, Likewise rushed back just in the nick of time to prevent an own-goal from slipping through.
The Marist offensive attack, who mustered just one goal through their first three matches, put together a pristine possession in the 21st minute that came up inches short of a goal. Senior forward Richard Morel sent a perfect cross to Chris Verheul, who angled around a defender and reeled off a shot that rattled off the crossbar.
Minutes later, Army unleashed a barrage on the Marist backline and graduate student goalkeeper Jamie Lowell, but they stood firm to keep the match scoreless. Freshman forward Gage Lyons received a perfect through-ball that put him in prime position to score but Lowell lunged out of goal to deflect the ball away. Off the deflection, Army freshman defender Kasem Minzey received a wide-open look, but sophomore Marist defender Nicholas Sanchez flew in to make a crucial block.
With 12 minutes remaining in the half, Army nearly capitalized on a crucial mistake by Lowell. With Lowell receiving the ball back in the box and taking his time to send it upfield, freshman midfielder Riley Cullum rushed toward him. Cullum’s aggression paid off, as Lowell lost possession. The ball then bounced towards goal right in front of Cullum, but with one man to beat, Cullum did not get quite enough on his shot. Lowell recovered just in time to make the save, and the scoreless tie remained through the halftime whistle.
Moving to the second half, the ball finally bounced Marist’s way in the 61st minute, giving the Red Foxes their first lead of the season. The scoring play started with junior defender/midfielder Aidan Arber, who sent a pass from the right side that ricocheted off a pair of Army defenders. The ball then found Cunha, who headed it forward to Chris Verheul. With Verheul stationed directly in front of the goal, he would not be denied, slipping a shot past the diving Likewise to give Marist the lead.
Army appeared to score the equalizer in the 69th minute; Minzey charged up the right side and sent a cross to a wide-open Lyons, who chipped the ball into the net. Immediately, the nearest official raised his flag to signal that Lyons was offsides, negating the equalizer and preserving Marist’s lead.
The punctuation mark on Marist’s winning effort came with under six minutes remaining. Lyons received a through ball and fired a searing shot from close range, but Lowell had one more spectacular save left in the tank, diving to his right to save the game for Marist.
With a win in their back pocket, Marist can now turn the page from their tumultuous road trip and set their sights on Monday night’s home opener; the Red Foxes are set to take on UAlbany at 7 p.m. in Tenney Stadium.
Edited by Marley Pope
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo Credit Marist Athletics
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