Matt Gad – Sports Writer
It was a 1-0 win for Southern men’s soccer last Thursday night in their season opener. They defeated Mercy College in a simple game that drew no penalties.
The Owls finished with 13 shots – eight on goal – but only found the net once, thanks to a goal from senior Louis Greenway Tambini, which was assisted by Ignacio Navarro from 18 yards out.
“It’s always nice to win,” Tambini, who’s from Nottingham, England, said. “To get off the board 1-0 is great. We had a bit of a poor start to last season so, yeah, it’s great to get that first W on the board and hopefully push on from there.”
Tambini is a two-time Northeast-10 All-Conference selection. Sophomore year he played in all 17 of the team’s games and last season he started 10 out of 12 for the Owls.
“I liked the result. I liked the way we competed and battled through the game,” head coach Tom Lang said. “I don’t think it was our best performance in terms of how we played but the important thing was that we got the result and came away with the victory.”
Lang has been coaching the men’s soccer program at Southern since 1997, registering more than 265 wins. Last season, the Owls went 7-8-2 and lost their opening game of the NE10 Tournament to Adelphi by a final of 1-0.
In addition to Lang as the head coach, they’re assisted by Paul Templeton, Brian Quinn, Jeremy Wilson and Michael White, the latter two in their first years coaching with the program.
Wilson was a former assistant with the Wesleyan University women’s soccer program and White started for the Owls for two seasons after transferring from Herkimer County Community College.
Moving forward, Tambini said he is most looking forward to two big games ahead – one with the University of Bridgeport tomorrow and the other with LIU Post Sept. 9.
The LIU Post game will be played in Bridgeport, making it a neutral site contest. The Owls return home for games Sept. 20 and 23 with Stonehill College and Franklin Pierce University, respectively.
“We need to get some things sorted out and cleaned up in training. We have a week off (since Aug. 31) so hopefully we can get some guys back healthier and get some work in and continue to build on this performance and get good results next week,” Lang said.
Sept. 27, the Owls travel to Manchester, N.H. to take on Southern New Hampshire University. After that, in an NE10 contest, they will play Assumption Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. After facing off against Saint Michael’s College, in Colchester, V.T, Oct. 4 they will return home for Adelphi on the 11th.
Southern will head to Springfield, Mass. Oct. 14 to take on American International. Their final two home games of the year are Oct. 18, with Le Moyne, and Oct. 27 with Saint Anselm. Those games are sandwiched between road games Oct. 21, with Merrimack, and Oct. 24, in Albany, N.Y. with the College of Saint Rose.
Photo Credit: Southernctowls.com
