Marist men’s soccer broke a 1-1 deadlock with ten minutes left on Tuesday night, earning a 2-1 win on the road to Albany. The first two goals came early and close, with 36 seconds separating the pair; the last came nearly 72 minutes later in the 80th minute.
Albany (2-2-1) scored in the seventh minute when junior midfielder Ivar Gissurarson deposited into an empty net. Sophomore defender David Pepple slipped freshman midfielder Roko Mrvelj in behind, who drew out graduate student goalkeeper Jamie Lowell. Mrvelj laid it off to Gissurarson, and the first goal belonged to the Danes.
Marist (3-0-1) equalized 36 seconds later when sophomore defender Evan Marques’ throw-in bounced around in the box and connected with the left boot of sophomore striker Chris Verhuel. His shot snuck past a few defenders and freshman goalie Alexander Genz, drawing the match level
It took 72 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, but it was the Red Foxes who broke it. Junior midfielder Kyle Evans received the ball in the middle and advanced it to senior attacker Jonathan Salguero. Salguero took the ball to the touchline and found freshman attacker Adriano Iannello. Iannello faced an essentially empty net and took the chance. The freshman now sits at a goal and two assists through four career games, a very strong start.
The Red Foxes controlled the second half, putting six shots up and two on target to Albany’s three shots, none of which found the frame. The referee also largely left the game alone with only 16 total fouls and a single yellow card issued to each team.
Entering play, Albany only conceded five corner kicks on the season, an imposing figure. Marist only took three, but two of them were within the first 19 minutes and allowed the Red Foxes to open the game up in attack.
Genz, out of Germany, made his first career start in goal, saving and conceding a pair each. Marist launched 12 shots at the six-foot-four goalie, but only four ended up on frame.
Albany, meanwhile, put up only six shots, three finding the target. With the Great Danes taking 15 shots per game in their first four matches, that number decreased from their season averages heading into the match.
Marist also handed the hosts their first home loss of the season, ending Albany’s two-game home win streak. The Red Foxes are now 3-0-0 on the road in 2025 and only lost one of their last six away games (4-1-1).
Evans continued his pattern of getting bunches of shots off, putting up five in the win. Two of the attempts were goal-bound, but Evans remains goalless through four games with 16 shots and 10 on frame.
Marques and Lowell remain the only Marist players to have played every minute of the season. Graduate student defender Liam Evans did not play a full 90, and neither did junior defender Ethan Ortiz, who was off the field numerous times dealing with an injury.
Early in the match, Ortiz’s chin got sliced open, bleeding onto his jersey. He left the match and re-entered with a different jersey and a bandage. In the second half, the bandage broke, forcing Ortiz and the Marist athletic trainers to fix the bandage and procure another unused jersey.
Freshman midfielder Miles Douglas took the place of Ortiz for a brief time but was on long enough to earn the Red Foxes’ lone yellow card. The officials dealt this one out for wasting time after Douglas kicked the ball away from an Albany player during a stoppage.
This win spells revenge for the Red Foxes, who were beaten 2-0 at home in 2024. All three of the most impactful players in that match have since left their clubs. Junior defender Nicholas Sanchez earned a red card for Marist and has since transferred to Brown University. Junior defender Christos Efstathiou, one of the goalscorers, now plays at Cal State LA. Finally, senior attacker Timo Jansen, the other scorer, is now at Rutgers.
Marist stays on the road, taking on Long Island University on Saturday, September 13th at 3 p.m. The Red Foxes beat the visiting Sharks in 2024 as sophomore defenders Gijs Verhuel and Evan Marques led a very strong effort from Marist’s youth.
Edited by Mike Duda and Ben Leeds
Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
Photo via Stockton Photo
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X and TikTok, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.