Men's Soccer Rallies to Down Sarah Lawrence Wednesday

YONKERS, N.Y. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's soccer team rallied for its first come-from-behind win in program history and defeated the Sarah Lawrence College Gryphons on the road, 2-1, to remain undefeated on the season on Wednesday night at Fleming Field in Yonkers, N.Y. With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 2-0-0 on the year, while the Gryphons slip to 0-3-0. The USJ men's soccer team will be back in action next on Saturday versus No. 25 Saint Joseph's (Me.) in its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and home opener at the USJ Soccer Field. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m.

Sarah Lawrence College, of the Skyline Conference, got on the board first as the Blue Jays and freshman goalkeeper Anes Gadun (Clinton, Conn.) surrendered their first goal of the inaugural season 4:57 into their second career match. Senior Colin Berg (Franklin, Mass.) found himself on the receiving end of a pass from sophomore midfielder Carlos Rivadeneyra (San Leandro, Calif.) inside the box and deposited his strike into the back of the net to give the hosts an early 1-0 advantage in the fifth minute of action.

The Blue Jays wouldn't falter though and regrouped to slowly regain control of the game. As USJ began to control more and more of the possession, opportunities became looming for the visitors to find an equalizer. USJ would finally break through to tie the game in the 17th minute. Freshman Kayden Parrilla (Windham, Conn.) sent a dangerous ball into the box which caromed off a Gryphons' defender and past their goalkeeper for an own goal and knot the match 1-1.

Saint Joseph would keep up the pressure and tempo over the ensuing 20 minutes of play, controlling the majority of the possession, and accounted for the next seven-of-eight shots in the match. The seventh shot would wind up beating the Gryphons' freshman keeper Matteo Romano (Sarasota, Fla.) for what would be the game-winning goal off the foot of USJ's freshman Daniel Castro (Willimantic, Conn.). Following a scramble inside the penalty area, Castro emerged with the ball and slid a shot into the back of the net for his third goal in two games and to lift the Blue Jays to victory, 2-1.

All of the scoring occurred over the opening 45 minutes of play as the Blue Jays' defense held strong in the second period to preserve the win, including Gadun who needed to make three second-half saves. Saint Joseph outshot Sarah Lawrence 13-2 in the first half and 20-10 in the match while holding a slight 7-5 overall edge in shots on goal.

Gadun finished with four saves between the pipes for USJ to post the win and improve his record to 2-0-0 on the season. Romano was dealt the loss for the Gryphons and falls to 0-3 on the year. He finished with five saves in 90 minutes of action.

Up Next
The USJ men's soccer team will be back in action next on Saturday for its GNAC and home opener versus No. 25 Saint Joseph's (Me.) beginning at 12:00 p.m.

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