Sebastian Arbelaez – Contributor
After almost two years of not playing at Jess Dow Field, the men’s soccer team returned to action in their home opener against University of Bridgeport.
Fans turned out for the game, as 350 people were in attendance.
Even though the crowd may have wanted to see a game full of goals, this one ended in a 0-0 draw.
The Owls suffered a loss in their first game of the season against Mercy College.
Despite hopes of winning their first game of the season at home, they came up short. Men’s soccer managed to take 10 total shots with six of them being on target, and many chances in the opponent’s final third. The University of Bridgeport men’s soccer team took the trip up to New Haven and managed to escape with a point, as it was an equally contested game.
Both sides split possession time at 50% apiece. Bridgeport had the same number of shots on target, six, and with fewer attempts, nine total shots.
For the Owls, Zachary Tuccitto led the team in shots as he managed to get off two on goal.The star of the game for men’s soccer was goalkeeper Bailey Bassett.
Bassett recorded five saves in goal, with a crucial one-on-one save in the first half.
“I’m satisfied. We could always do more, but we took a big step losing 2-0 last game. Keeping a shut out is a pretty big one for me, the defense, and the team. I’ll take this, I’ll take this for sure,” said Bassett.
After 90 minutes, neither side had drawn blood. This game received an extra 20 minutes to play, as the golden goal rule is in effect during these final minutes. The first team to score a goal wins and if by the time the clock has run out and the score remains the same, both teams receive a point for a draw. In total, Jess Dow Field witnessed 110 minutes of competitive Division II soccer and five players completed every second of it.
Besides the goalkeeper, four other players, Santiago Slapak, Arnold Signell, Jonathan Foster and Alex da Cunha did not step off the pitch once. Surely, they will need a rest, head coach Tom Lang says.
“Those guys played quite a bit tonight. They’ll have to find a way to recover and regenerate and those that didn’t play we need to do a bit of extra work with them to keep them up to speed of playing games when they are called upon, so it’ll be kind of a mixed bag when we get into training tomorrow,” Lang said.
Lang was grateful to be back on Jess Dow Field and in front of fans.
“It’s been an unbelievable experience these last couple of years that we’ve all had to struggle to get through,” Lang said. “The boys were really excited and looking forward to it, we’re very anxious to play and get an opportunity here at home.” Men’s soccer is already in preparation for their next game, which is this Saturday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m. at home, as they take on Dominican.
