Marist men’s soccer (1-0-1) drew 0-0 while failing to score in their home opener despite Army (1-1-1) being dealt two red cards. The Red Foxes put up 21 shots and 10 on target, but couldn’t find a breakthrough against the Black Knights.
“This is a game you obviously want to get three points from,” said Marist head coach Matt Viggiano.
Sophomore defender Owen Ennis was given a red card in the 62nd minute and freshman goalie Collin Gilbert got his in the 77th. The Red Foxes dominated the final 13 minutes with a two-man advantage but were unable to score.
Army racked up the fouls in the match, finishing with 18. Four yellow cards accompanied the two reds.
It seemed as though the Red Foxes dominated the game for all 90 minutes, generating more corners, shots, shots on target and fouls drawn.
The first half of the match was back and forth; neither team posed much of a threat. Junior midfielder Kyle Evans controlled a lot of the attacking play for Marist, shooting five times with three ending up on frame.
On the defensive side, Marist kept their second straight clean sheet to start the year. Graduate student Jamie Lowell made four saves, adding onto his five from the Red Foxes opener: a 1-0 win at Stony Brook. Nine saves and two clean sheets marks Lowell’s best personal two-game start of his six-year career.
“It does feel good to stack clean sheets, but at the end of the day you gotta win the game,” said Lowell.
The Black Knights were without their top goalscorer: Junior forward Jubril Bamgbala. Bamgbala has two goals on the year but received a red card in Army’s win over Penn State this past Sunday.
Viggiano continued to use his freshman, keeping his lineup unchanged from their opener. Defender Will Salivonchik and attacker Adriano Iannello started again, and attacker Eric Moroz featured off the bench.
“There’s guys right now that haven’t gotten a chance but probably deserve one,” said Viggiano. “It’s nice because there’s not a lot of pressure on them.”
The yellow cards began to fly as the second half opener, with Army earning the first one in the 55th minute. Iannello and Salivonchik earned one for Marist, as did senior midfielder Jonathan Salguero.
Ennis earned his red card after denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity to Marist. Sophomore defender Evan Marques, who played the full 90 and had four shots, missed the subsequent free kick.
Missed chances told the story for Marist in the second leg of Marist’s soccer doubleheader. (Women’s Soccer fell to Binghamton earlier in the day) The Red Foxes had 22 throw-ins, four corners, and numerous free kicks. All went awry as the side frequently found themselves stopped by Army’s insanely tall back-line. Gilbert is six-foot-seven, sophomore goalkeeper Michael Guiry, who came on for Gilbert, is six-foot-five, and junior defender Kelly Cooper is six-foot-five.
“We gotta have a little more urgency in the box…the quality of services could’ve been better,” said Viggiano.
Gilbert got his red card in the 77th minute after fouling Salguero on a very dangerous goalscoring opportunity. His replacement nearly got his own red card after handling the ball outside the box, but after video review it was determined the offense was unintentional and therefore only warranted a yellow.
Marist amassed 14 shots in the second half, half of which made it on target, but were unable to break through. Goalscoring is a concern for the Red Foxes this year, who just graduated their top scorer for two years in a row in Richard Morel.
The Red Foxes now get a week off with their next game not coming until next Friday, September 5th. They look to stay undefeated as they travel to the Bronx and play Fordham; Marist upset Fordham at home last year when the Rams were ranked 18th in the country. Game time is set for 7pm.
Edited by Hayden Shapiro
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
Photos by Carlisle Stockton
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