Men's Soccer Plays To Scoreless Draw With Albertus Wednesday

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's soccer team and visiting Albertus Magnus College (AMC) Falcons played to a scoreless draw, 0-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match on a picture-perfect Wednesday afternoon at the USJ Soccer Field in West Hartford.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: USJ 0, Albertus Magnus 0
Records: USJ (4-1-1, 2-0-1 GNAC), AMC (4-1-3, 2-0-2 GNAC)
Location: USJ Soccer Field (West Hartford, Conn.)

KEY MOMENTS

• USJ looked like it would be the first to strike at the 20:09 mark of the first half. Senior midfielder Michael Torres (Hartford, Conn.) ripped a shot from 40-yards that caromed off the bottom of the cross bar straight down, off the AMC's goalkeeper's hand, and spun forward away from the goal.
• The Falcons then nearly broke the stalemate with a great chance at the 23:12 mark. Freshman Eduardo Chavez (Norwalk, Conn.) crossed a great ball from the right corner and found the head of classmate Yahya Kardad (Wallingford, Conn.) whose header shot screamed just high over the bar.
• AMC was next to create a great scoring opportunity in the opening period. Junior midfielder Roger Baldwin (New Haven, Conn.) received a pass inside the penalty area and poked a shot that squirted just wide of the right post at the 38:55 mark.
• The Blue Jays had the final scoring chance of the first 45. With just under five minutes left before the break, senior forward Mergim Kutllovci (Thomaston, Conn.) used a firm right-footed strike that was headed into the lower-left corner of the goal, but was stopped with a diving save by AMC's freshman keeper David Lucero (East Haven, Conn.).
• USJ dominated possession and the majority of play in the second half and would finish with a 17-0 advantage in shots in the period, including a 6-0 edge in shots on goal, but they were all stopped by Lucero who was excellent between the pipes on the night for the Falcons.
• The Blue Jays came out of the break looking to attack and fired five great shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but just couldn't sneak one into the back of the net and settled for their first tie of the 2022 season versus their intrastate and conference rivals. 

QUOTABLE

"When you see the shot count we feel a little disappointed with the result, but I can't take anything away from Albertus as they defended extremely well and their goalkeeper came up big and kept them in the game. In my opinion he (Lucero) was the man of the match. He played superb and made some great saves so credit to them. Overall, I was happy with how we played and what we created, we just couldn't get one in today," said head coach Paul Wright.

NOTES

• USJ has now posted five clean sheets, including four in-a-row, through its first six matches to start the season.
• The Blue Jays dominated overall in the shots department, 27-5, including in shots on goal, 8-1.
• USJ's senior goalkeeper Matthew Goebel (Norton, Mass.) made one save to earn the shutout between the pipes. He is now 3-0-1 on the season.
• The Blue Jays held a significant edge in corner kicks, 6-0.
• It marked the sixth meeting all-time between the two programs with the Blue Jays now owning a 3-2-1 record in the series.

UP NEXT

Men's soccer returns back to the pitch on Saturday, September 24 for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match on the road at Regis College. Kickoff between the Blue Jays and Pride is slated for 4:30 p.m. at Regis Stadium in Weston, Mass.