PAT LONGOBARDI — Sports Writer
The SCSU men’s soccer team opened its 2011 home schedule in usual fashion by defeating Bloomfield College, 3-1.
Southern plays five of its first six games on the road but finished 7-0-2 at home in 2010, on their way to a 14-2-4 record.
Southern is looking to get back into the NSCAA poll after dropping out from the No. 12 spot after starting the season 1-1.
Southern (2-1) got off to a fast start in this game, scoring in the 10th minute to lead 1-0. Junior Luke Perry (Macclesfield, England) scored his first goal of the season after senior Cedric Panzu missed a header off the post and deflected to Perry for the shot.
“It important to have a home win,” Perry said. “We need to make this an intimidating place to win in each game, and a hostile environment.”
Southern carried the one-goal lead into halftime after outshooting Bloomfield 11-6.
In the second half, the play was very tight and physical and it was clear Bloomfield could not keep up with the Owls.
Bloomfield (0-3) played a man down after junior Diego Ramocan was given a yellow card in the 57th minute for tripping Owls freshman Cody St. John.
Southern then received two-consecutive goals on penalty kicks after two crucial mistakes by Bloomfield.
They were called for a handball after Southern received a corner kick, after the ball landed in a pile in front of the net. Panzu was then tripped in front of the net after a wide open pass, prompting the second penalty kick.
Southern senior Paul Templeton (Saltcoats, Scotland) scored both goals in the 58th minute and 68th minutes. Templeton led Southern with four points on his first two goals of the season with four shots. Perry scored one goal with two shots.
“I felt we could have came out a little sharper,” Southern head coach Tom Lang said. “We had other chances that we didn’t capitalize well. We had to adjust at halftime and come at them more directly than usual in the second half.”
Bloomfield had some scoring chances in the second half. Sophomore Claude Allen had a header go wide left in the 63rd minute and junior Jeffrey Dapaah had his header saved in the 65th minute.
Bloomfield made it 3-1 in the 78th minute when senior Juan Ramirez scored on a penalty kick. Ramirez led Bloomfield with two points with one goal on three shots.
Southern outshot Bloomfield 19-12 in the game. Each team had five corner kicks with all of Bloomfield’s coming in the second half.
“We are still improving,” Perry said. “We still have a lot to work on.”
Senior goalkeeper Andrew Esposito made four saves while allowing just the one goal. Junior Cody Sherman made three saves for Bloomfield.
This was the first ever meeting between the two schools.
After going 15-4-2 last year earning their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth, and 8-2 on the road, Bloomfield was now 0-3 overall, all on the road. They have also now lost four straight matches, all to Northeast-10 Conference competition.
