Marist men’s soccer went down a man, up a goal, and crashed down to earth all within a half hour.
It started in the 54th minute when graduate student defender Mani Diop was shown a second yellow and sent off, leaving Marist (3-2-4, 1-1-1 Metro) playing 10v11 against Iona (2-4-4, 1-1-2 Metro) for over 35 minutes.
“We had to continue to work and do the job,” said Marist head coach Matt Viggiano. “We did the job… I’m proud of the effort up against a ton of adversity.”
Junior forward Chris Verhuel took the initiative and scored in the 64th minute, a beautiful volley off a cross from sophomore fullback Will Salivonchik.
“[Chris] said ‘I don’t want to lose to then anymore’, we talked about it before the game,” said Viggiano.
The lead held for 20 minutes and appeared to be enough for the win, but Iona’s sophomore forward Ricardo Vivo Calderon capitalized on a mistake from junior keeper Alex Murania and tied the game.
The match stayed chippy throughout, and the pot nearly simmered over in the second half. Viggiano was shown a yellow card after Diop’s dismissal, and the two sides combined for 10 caution cards in the second 45. 12 total cards were dealt in total, including Diop’s red card.
Viggiano and the referee, Artur Sibiga, have history; Sibiga was previously banned from officiating Marist matches after he gave Viggiano a red card in a match in recent years.
“Both benches were frustrated, and it had nothing to do with the guys on the field,” said Viggiano.
Iona continues to have the Red Foxes number, as they now move to seven games unbeaten against Marist dating back to 2018.
The Red Foxes are still winless at home, posting a 0-3-3 record in six matches at Tenney Stadium. Marist led in four of those matches; they were shut out in the other two.
Junior midfielder Caio Cavaletti, who carried a five-match assist streak into the match, was extremely lively in the first frame. The Brazilian took four shots, the first three of which were on target, and pushed the issue for Marist.
The Red Foxes nearly got on the board early, but junior forward Chris Verheul’s shot deflected off the crossbar. Cavaletti had a shot cleared at the goal line a few minutes later, as neither of Marist’s two best first-half chances resulted in a goal.
Sophomore forward Noah Mellen made his season debut when he entered the game alongside sophomore winger Ronan Hogg, who, as of today, changed from wearing number 14 to number 20. The two took the places of Diop and Chris Verheul.
Viggiano continued to line his team up with five attackers when in possession, and five defenders when out of possession. Salivonchik pushed up the right flank to act as a winger with the ball, while sophomore winger Adriano Iannello dropped back to slot in as a left-sided fullback without the ball.
Arguments were made for a potential handball against Iona in the box in the 52nd minute, but the Red Foxes’ cries were in vain. Things went from bad to worse just two minutes later when Diop got sent off, although the Gaels failed to take the initiative.
“[Had to] get the guys locked in and in the right spots,” said Murania.
Verheul scored 10 minutes later, his fourth of the season, which ties him for the team lead, putting the Red Foxes up a goal while down a man. Verheul entered concussion protocol after a collision a few minutes later, giving Mellen another runout, but re-entered shortly after.
Salivonchik and sophomore defender Andres Becerra got into a few different shoving matches around the pitch, but it was freshman forward Rudy Figueroa who ended up in the books after a hard foul on Iannello.
Senior forward Francesco Borla nearly tied the match in the 77th minute, but Murania made his seventh save of the night, en route to 10 total, a career-high for him.
“It’s disappointing… I can confidently say we were the better team, even with 10 men,” said Murania.
Murania did cost his team the three points a few minutes later after he spilled a shot right into the path of Vivo Calderon, who secured a point for the Gaels.
The Red Foxes pushed for a win, but the damage was already done.
“We have to play 90 minutes. That’s been a theme,” said Viggiano. “We put in a lot of unnecessary work due to things not in our control.”
Marist begins a two-game road trip next week when the Red Foxes travel to Buffalo, NY, to take on Canisius, who are winless against Division I opposition this season. Kickoff against the Golden Griffins on Saturday, October 10, is set for 3 p.m.
Edited by Jack Tomasi
Photo via Michael O’Neill
Graphic by Isabel Cortese
For more coverage of Marist athletics, follow @cfmarist on Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky, and sign up to receive daily alerts here.