(Queens, NY) – For the second straight game, the Mount Saint Vincent Men's Soccer team played a solid game against an energized opponent, and for the second straight game they went toe-to-toe with that opponent. Unfortunately for the Mount, for the second straight game they struggled to convert numerous scoring opportunities, this time taking 16 shots, none of which resulted in goals as the Dolphins were downed by CUNY powerhouse Hunter College, 3-0 during a game played at the Met Oval in Queens, New York. With their second straight loss, Mount Saint Vincent falls to 1-5.
Mount Saint Vincent actually had to fend off an early charge by the Hawks (4-3) as three early breakaways were thwarted by the Dolphin defense, led by junior Zach Coppola (Staten Island, NY/Msgr. Farrell) and sophomore goalie William Raftery (Bronx, NY/Salesian), who made six saves. However, Hunter broke through in the 18th minute, as freshman Matias Velazquez scored off of a pass by fellow freshman Christopher Murphy, who gained possession off of a Raftery rebound to make it 1-0. From there, Mount Saint Vincent had several chances to score, but were unable to convert and trailed 1-0 after 45 minutes.
The second half began with the Mount in control of the ball as sophomore Chris Dotoratos (Bronx, NY/Salesian) nearly netted a goal of his own, but the Dolphins shooting drought continued. Hunter took advantage almost immediately, scoring twice in an 11-minute span to increase the lead to 3-0 and put the game out of reach with 26 minutes remaining.
The Mount received heroic efforts from Dotoratos and Chris MacDonald (Farmingdale, NY/Nassau CC), who each took five shots and created numerous opportunities, however, since scoring seven goals during a 7-2 win over Yeshiva on Sept. 17, they have generated 13 shots on goal over two games without finding the back of the net.
The Dolphins will look to turn things around on Wednesday, Sept. 27 when they host the Webb Institute in a Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference (HVMAC) clash at 4:30 p.m. The game will be played at Redmond-Cooke Field in Yonkers, New York.
