Men's Soccer

BENNINGTON, Vt. — The most successful groups find a way to win on off days, and that’s exactly what the Southern Vermont College men’s soccer team did to defeat visiting Newbury College, 2-1, at Homecoming on Saturday at Everett Field.

The Mountaineers (7-2 overall, 2-0 NECC) scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the contest before trudging through sluggishness for the remainder of the game to notch their sixth victory in a row.

“It was an interesting game due to the fact that we came out of the gates flying to do whatever we wanted with the ball and scored two nice goals quickly,” SVC head coach Tim Penrod said. “Then we just settled in and sat on that lead as [Newbury] dictated the pace and put a ton of pressure on us late in the game. We just had to find a way to come out with a win, and we did that.

“A season ago we would have found 37 ways to lose this game, and now we’ve learned a way to come out on top ... that’s the mark of a lot of growth on our team.”

Just 3:35 into the match, SVC freshman Alex Greenough unloaded a cannon of a shot over Nighthawk goalkeeper William McNally’s head, but the ball connected with the crossbar and flew high into the air. Waiting in the box, Mountaineer forward Nick Haggerty timed his
aerial assault perfectly to head the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 SVC lead.

The Mountaineers controlled the ball after the ensuing restart and patiently waited for the right scoring opportunity to present itself while moving the charge toward the Newbury (0-6 overall, 0-1 NECC) net. In the 12th minute, SVC freshman midfielder Gus Chery flanked
his way past the Nighthawks’ defensive line and sailed a looping cross into the box where Haggerty headed his second goal of the match past McNally’s grasp for the 2-0 SVC lead.

“It was a hard fought game, but it was tough to come out fired up and all of the sudden be in a 2-0 hole,” said Newbury head coach James Odierna. “I am proud that the guys didn’t let it get to them and battled back, because earlier in the season, a early deficit would
have been the end of us.”

The Nighthawks got on the scoreboard in the 22nd minute when Shaundize Moosavizad placed a free kick pass into the box for Andy Osel to beat SVC goalkeeper Aaron Eschler. For the remainder of the half, both teams traded the momentum back and forth without
sustaining enough of a push to score. SVC sophomore Sean Moore sent a cross into the box at the midpoint of the first half that curled into the post and away from the net. Forty seconds later, Newbury pushed the ball forward and also rang a shot off the post – that was as close as either team would come down the stretch.

“It’s frustrating, this was the third game in a row where we’ve been close but haven’t been able to claw our way back,” Odierna said. “We have been giving up stupid goals in our earlier losses, but SVC scored two quality goals today. We fought hard to get back in it, but
just couldn’t get the equalizer.”

Eschler finished with one save in the contest, but orchestrated the SVC defense to hold the Nighthawk pressure to the outside as Newbury controlled the play in the second half.

“We held off the Newbury attack by keeping our mark, picking up runners and using defensive discipline,” Penrod said. “We kept the defense sound by communicating well and all of that starts with Aaron back there.”

The Nighthawks had numerous scoring opportunities in the closing minutes of the game, but SVC junior Ben Naaktgeboren turned the ball away from danger with two consecutive headers before the clock ran out.

“The backs and the middies locked things down extremely well on the defensive side of the field when it was needed and we escaped with another conference win,” Eschler said. “We competed in every game last year and knew that we would turn things around and win some
games this year and it’s happening.”

The Mountaineers are back on the field for a non-conference game at Morrisville State on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.