Bobby Martinez – Staff Writer –
Owls Soccer moves to 7-5-1 with just two games remaining.
With the season approaching its end, an Owls men’s soccer team that had lost five of its last six games was in desperate need of a win.
Mario DiMiceli was the answer against Bridgeport Tuesday night, scoring yet another hat trick as the team cruised to a 4-0 victory at Jess Dow Field.
Head coach Tom Lang said that he liked how his team played against Bridgeport and that their focus is one game at a time.
“We have been a little inconsistent in those games that we didn’t win,” Lang said. “I felt some of those games we played good enough to win. That’s soccer; you can be the better team that day but not get the result you want.”
In the first half the Owls came out of the gate with high defense pressure against UB.
DiMiceli gave the Owls the lead during the 24th minute with an unassisted goal in an open net.
Owl’s goalie Stephen Sasso tallied a shutout against UB with three saves in the first half and two in the second. At times UB had opportunities that could’ve landed them some points but Sasso played very good defense.
DiMiceli scored another goal ten minutes later with an assist from Mads Larsen, his ninth of the season.
As the first half came to an end the Owls went to the locker room with 2-0 lead with very good team work and also great protection from Sasso. A major part in the Owls lead was the way they all communicated and attacked the ball, kicking nine shots in the first half compared to six for Bridgeport.
In the second half Ross McGibney scored his seond goal of the season on a three vs. two break with Mario Costa giving him a lead pass to the right of the box scoring in the left corner.
The Owls took a commanding 3-0 lead and didn’t look back from there. UB never had a chance in the second half to set up their offense and create chances to score despite several shot attempts.
The Owls had another nine shots in the second half which led to domination towards the end of the game.
DiMiceli scored his tenth goal of the season and earned another hat trick when he took a pass from Tyler Naef and then faked out the Bridgeport goalie.
The team is now 7-5-1. Sasso said after the game that he sees what his team needs to do in order to continue their winning ways.
“We’ve got to keep working hard and keep a positive attitude and can’t let down. We need to work on passing and moving and working off the ball individually everyone’s got to bring something to the table,” he said.
On Saturday at Umass-Lowell, the Owls notched another victory, this time by the score of 2-1.
DiMiceli had another stellar game, scoring both goals. Only two games remain in the regular season, both critical for Owls soccer.
After playing at Assumption Tuesday night, the Owls will head back home to play Bentley University Friday night at 7 p.m. in the regular season finale.
