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Men's Soccer's Win Streak
Snapped in Overtime |
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It took 97 hard-fought minutes of soccer, but the CSUSM men's team (7-2) saw its win streak come to an end on Tuesday at the hands of visiting Vanguard University (6-1) by a score of 2-1. Prior to Tuesday's game, the men had won 7-straight matches, including a victory over then-#25 Point Loma Nazarene. But Vanguard proved the toughest test to-date, and the Cougars came up just short in overtime. In what was an extremely physical match from the opening whistle, both teams battled to a 0-0 first half. Though scoreless, the half was anything but uneventful. After roughly 15 minutes of back-and-forth play, the Cougars made a hard push to score, and nearly did. Their effort culminated in a 22nd-minute penalty kick by forward Mike Nuovo. Nuovo struck the shot hard, but Vanguard keeper William Johnson was up for the task, blocking the ball from getting past him. The rebound went to Curtis Marcikic, who rocketed it off the crossbar. Off the ensuing corner-kick, the Cougars would hit the post once again, capping off what was an intense but ultimately frustrating surge. While the first half saw one penalty kick, the second half would see two more. The first chance was earned by CSUSM in the 60th minute. Chris Wyatt was selected to take the shot, and he finally beat the Vanguard keeper to break the scoreless tie. Unfortunately for the Cougars, 15 minutes later Vanguard earned a penalty kick of their own, and Christopher Leiva was able to slip it past keeper Trent Painter. Deadlocked at 1-1, both teams continued to trade chances for the rest of regulation. The game went to overtime, where in the 97th minute Vanguard was able to break the tie. Keeper William Johnson hit a ball hard downfield, finding Dane Gallion, who had slipped past CSUSM's defense. Gallion controlled the ball and made a run across the box. Keeper Trent Painter tried to cut down his angle, but Gallion beat him to the corner and was able to tuck his shot into the back of the net to give Vanguard the 2-1 victory. Though the loss is a tough pill to swallow for the Cougar men and their loyal (and rowdy) fans, the team is still 7-2 on the season, and has proved that they can compete with just about anybody. They'll try to bounce back in a road game at Biola University on Friday. Their next home game will take place on Sunday, October 1st, at 3:00 PM against La Sierra University. |