RICHMOND, Va. – The Long Island University men's soccer team made it a 2-0 start to the 2019 season after a 1-0 triumph over Virginia Commonwealth University Monday night at Sports Backers Stadium.
Junior
Chris Capaldo scored for the Sharks in the 56
th minute and also led the match in shots on goal with three. Senior
Kyle Parish, junior
Camarri Johnson and freshman
Selcuk Kahveci each had shots for LIU. Parish along with graduate student
Stefan Faistenauer, freshman
Ryan Grande, sophomore
Luke Kasulke and sophomore
Anton Ocampo each clocked 90 minutes on the pitch and helped keep the Rams scoreless.
Senior goalkeeper
Matias Pesallaccia tallied two saves while freshman
Demetri Skoumbakis recorded the first save of his college career in his first appearance.
While the Rams may have come out on top in total shots 15-6, LIU had the edge in accuracy as it had four shots on goal to two by VCU. The Sharks also held a 3-2 advantage in corners.
"This trip was a great success not only for the result, but to build team chemistry and camaraderie," said head coach
Michael Mordocco. "Guys are buying in and finding ways to get results. Tonight, our guys managed stress by playing hard and being mature. If we want to do something great, we must do the little things better than our opponent."
With 11:05 on the clock Capaldo gave LIU its first scoring opportunity, shooting the bottom right but the Rams' goalkeeper was able to make the save. Kahveci made an immediate impact after checking into the match, sending a shot just wide in the 34
th minute. In his first appearance for LIU Johnson was also a scoring threat as he had a shot saved at 40:22. LIU was unlucky not hold an advantage heading into halftime as Parish missed wide in the 43
rd minute. The 43rd minute was also a memorable one for Skoumbakis, as he recorded the first save of his college career as he left into the air and tipped the ball over the cross bar.
Despite coming close on several occasions in the first half, LIU would go into halftime with the score tied 0-0.
LIU came out of halftime with a spark as Capaldo fired a shot to the bottom right 23 seconds into the period that was saved for his second shot on goal of the match. In the 56
th minute, following a corner kick by Ocampo, Capaldo's persistence paid off as he fired the ball into the back right of the net from near the top of the box and gave the Sharks a 1-0 advantage.
The Sharks' high level of play at goalkeeper continued in the late stages of the match as Pesallaccia made clutch saves in the 83
rd and 88
th minutes, which helped to make sure the match ended with a final score of 1-0 in LIU's favor.
Up Next
LIU will play its home opener at the LIU Soccer Park on Saturday, September 7 at 4 p.m. against Saint Joseph's University (0-1).
