Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Sept. 16, 2015) – Trailing 1-0 early in the first half of their 2015 home opener, the Molloy College men's soccer team scored three unanswered goals to record a 3-1 victory over Dominican (N.Y.) on Wednesday night at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex in Rockville Centre.
Molloy (3-1) nearly took a 1-0 lead within the first thirty seconds of play, as sophomore back
Chris Moschella (Miller Place, N.Y.) found second-year attacker
Lucas Munoz (Hicksville, N.Y.) with a neat pass. Munoz sidestepped the defense and put his shot on net, but it was collected by junior goalie Steven Hegner (Pomona, N.Y.) of Dominican (0-5). The Chargers struck for the first goal of the game in the ninth minute, thanks to a rare defensive miscue by the maroon and white. Sophomore keeper
Stephen Tappeto (Merrick, N.Y.) came off of his line to play a ball that had trickled dangerously behind the defense, but his clear went only as far as Dominican sophomore Daniel Alvarado (Santa Barbara, Costa Rica). The midfielder chipped a ball from 25 yards out that would ordinarily be an easy save, but with Tappeto at the top of the 18-yard box, Alvarado's shot found its way to the back of the net. The Costa Rican's first goal of the season gave the Chargers their first lead of the fall campaign, and Dominican came within a few feet of doubling their advantage just eight minutes later. Junior forward Harry Solomons (Leicester, England) sent in a shot from the far side of Molloy's defensive end that Tappeto saved, but the ball squirted free from the grasp of the net-minder inside the Lions' six-yard box. With a hard-charging Solomons bearing down on him, Tappeto raced out to the loose ball and pounced on it before any more damage could be caused.
It would take Molloy just one minute more to equalize the affair at Darcy Field, as a 50-50 ball in midfield was won by red-shirt senior
Lester Franco (Bay Shore, N.Y.). Franco deftly flicked the ball on with his head and found a streaking Munoz down the near sideline. With Hegner closing down, Munoz sent his shot around the keeper's left side and curling into the net on the near-side post. Munoz's first goal of the season, coupled with Franco's first assist, leveled the score at one-all. After seventeen minutes of back-and-forth play, Molloy cashed in on a foul called just outside the 18-yard box on the near sideline. Junior forward and reigning East Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week
Mosiah Whyte (Coram, N.Y.) took the free kick and bent in a cross towards fellow third-year
Kyle Poetzsch (Hicksville, N.Y.). After a textbook first touch was controlled well off of his chest, Poetzsch rocketed his shot off the far-side post past a helpless Hegner and into the back of the net. The junior's third goal was credited with Whyte's second assist of the season and tenth point in the first four games.
The Lions took a 2-1 lead into the second half but were forced to play down a man after a red card was issued to Whyte in the 54
th minute. Whyte raced after a ball into the Dominican box and tried to challenge Hegner, who caught the wrong end of a cleat and went down to draw the ejection. But an undeterred Molloy squad almost converted on an insurance chance just six minutes later as Franco got loose behind the defensive end with the ball. The red-shirt senior had Poetzsch with him, but instead he elected to try to dribble around the Chargers' goalkeeper, which did not work as Hegner timed his sprawl perfectly to stunt Franco's chance.
Dominican got three chances at a two-two ballgame, but the Chargers could not take advantage of a man-up situation. In the 82
nd minute, Molloy would net the all-important insurance goal to seal the deal as Franco lofted a beautiful high ball onto the near sideline for a cutting
Ryan Fackner (North Babylon, N.Y.). The senior defender won the foot race with his marked man and dribbled into the box where he had a one-on-one opportunity with Hegner. Fackner slotted his left-footed shot low as Hegner dove right, guessing incorrectly, and the ball rolled into the far-side netting to effectively end the match in favor of the home side.
In a stellar win for Molloy, it was Dominican that had the higher stat totals. The Chargers outshot the maroon and white by a 17-8 margin and had five shots on goal to Molloy's four. Additionally, the visitors took six corner kicks while the Lions had just two opportunities from the corner flag. Chargers senior back Lukas Nordin (Linkoping, Sweden) led all field players with five shots while Munoz took a team-high three for Molloy. Tappeto made four saves for the Lions in picking up his third win of the year, while Hegner only stopped one shot in falling for the fifth straight decision in 2015.
The Molloy College men's soccer team will now open East Coast Conference play on the road as the Lions travel to Flushing to face Queens (N.Y.) on Saturday (Sept. 19). Kick-off from Kissena Boulevard is set for 3 p.m.
