SVC Men’s Soccer Dominates Raptor Classic
Photo Courtesy: Matt Haggerty
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Southern Vermont College men's soccer squad swept Bard's Raptor Classic with a shutout victory Friday against Polytechnic University of N.Y. 2-0 and a barn burner over the host team 3-2 Saturday.
Freshman Adrien Alexis led the Mountaineers to victory with four goals on the weekend including a hat-trick on Saturday and was named the Raptor Classic Tournament MVP.
"He [Adrien] has the perfect mentality: ‘How can I put myself in a position to score', said Head Coach Tim Penrod. "Not only did he put himself in a position to score, he worked continuously off the ball to try and set his teammates up as well. Right now, he's hot, he's scoring regularly. He played above everyone this weekend, but he will be the first to tell you that he wouldn't have done any of it without his teammate's contributions."
Captain Sean Moore got the Mountaineers on the board with an unassisted goal in the 30th minute of play. In the 79th minute junior Neel Patel connected with Alexis for a score to make it 2-0.
"Friday night we put together the most complete game I have seen a team play in my time at SVC," said Coach Penrod. "While it took us a while to break through, we stayed patient and disciplined, which is something we haven't been so good at in the past. It was a complete team effort, with everyone making a contribution to our success."
Sophomore Elias Skiff got the shutout against POLY NYU as he scooped up six saves. SVC improved to 2-2 with the win.
On Saturday the Mountaineers' struck early in 21st minute when freshman Gus Chery lofted a perfect pass to Alexis for his first goal of the day. Minutes later on a corner kick from sophomore Tony Martinez Southern Vermont made it 2-0 with Alexis knocking it past a diving Bard keeper Devon Connelly.
"Saturday, we were simply brilliant the first 45 minutes," said Coach Penrod. "We did all the little things right, which resulted in us building a 2-0 lead at halftime. Every day in practice we have been focused on doing the little things right because ultimately we knew it would bring big results. In the second half, we continued our strong play, everyone wanting to prove we could still improve and play at an even higher level. We did fall off for a bit for about 10-15 minutes, which is something we cannot afford to do against good teams, but I am quite confident we will have that issue sorted out by the start of conference play Sunday."
It was 2-0 in SVC's favor at the break and in 54th minute Alexis completed the hat-trick when he was assisted by senior Ryan Heron. Alexis' hat-trick is the first for SVC since 1999 when freshman Kyle George knocked in three goals against non other than Bard College.
The Raptors made a stance in the 69th and 70th minutes when Jacob Hartog scored with an assist from Chet Darrow and unassisted to make 3-2.
Mountaineers goalie Aaron Eschler held off Bard in the final minutes to get the win and he improved to 2-2 as a goalie this season. Eschler had seven saves in 90 minutes of play. Southern Vermont is 3-2 surpassing last year's two total wins with many good match-ups in the weeks to come.
"Dave Gage was absolutely essential to our success this weekend," said Coach Penrod. "He has a tough job as a holding midfielder, but his work rate was unmatched by anyone on the field for either team, either day. Without his communication, leadership, and hard work, there's no way we would have been as successful as we were."
Southern Vermont is hitting the road Tuesday, Sept. 14th when they head to Green Mountain College for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff.
