Newburgh, N.Y. – Despite two unanswered goals in the second half, the Knights fell to SUNY Polytechnic Institute 3-2 Saturday afternoon.
The Basics
Score: Mount Saint Mary 2, SUNY Polytechnic Institute 3
Records: Mount Saint Mary (0-5-0) | SUNY Polytechnic Institute (3-2-0, 0-0-0)
Back at Kaplan Field for the first time since September 1st, the Mount Saint Mary Knights took on the SUNY Poly Wildcats Saturday afternoon. The Knights, still looking their first win of the season, went toe-to-toe with the Wildcats in what was a defensive battle for a majority of the first half. The early afternoon contest was quiet until the 37th minute, when Wildcats sophomore Marcus Cole broke free and managed to find the back of the net for the game's first goal. The Knights narrowly missed the equalizer in the 41st minute, when sophomore Alex Napoli forced a turnover and fired a shot on goal that would be deflected off of the right post by SUNY Poly netminder Marcus Duncan. The Wildcats would carry the 1-0 advantage into the break.
The second half would get off to a much quicker start than the first half, with Wildcats senior Jael Casimir giving the visitors a 2-0 lead in the 55th minute on a shot that caromed off of the goalpost and into the net. The Wildcats struck again just six minutes later, when freshman Jace James scored on a highlight-reel header out of a set piece to give SUNY Poly a 3-0 lead. Junior JohnPaul Jerome picked up an assist on the Casimir goal, and freshman Lucas Russell picked up an assist of his own on the James goal. Down 3-0, the Knights would finally get on the scoreboard on a 78th minute goal off the foot of Isaac Vargas. The goal, the first of Vargas' career, was assisted by TJ Mark and made the score 3-1. On the heels of his assist, Mark scored a beauty for his third goal of the season in the 88th minute. The goal made the game 3-2, and brought the Knights to within one with just over two minutes to play. The Knights comeback attempt ultimately fell just short, and 3-2 would be the final score.
The Knights take the field again on Saturday, September 19th, opening Skyline Conference play at home against St. Joseph's Long Island at 2:30 pm.
Notes and Numbers
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