Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Sept. 24, 2015) - A 32nd-minute free kick goal from junior forward
Mosiah Whyte (Coram, N.Y.) was all that the Molloy men's soccer team needed as the Lions knocked off a game Philadelphia squad, 1-0, on Thursday at the Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex.
The action proved to be fast, furious and chippy under a beautiful sky at Darcy Field as both teams looked to get early markers on net. In the fifth minute, Philadelphia nearly took the lead as senior forward Ishmaiah Calwrie (Baltimore, Md.) flicked a free kick with his head on towards net, but sophomore goalie
Stephen Tappeto (Merrick, N.Y.) made a good save to keep the Rams off the board. Calwrie would have another opportunity with a header at the 12:47 mark of the first half, but Tappeto lunged to his left and made a finger-tip save, pushing the ball just outside the six-yard box to his left. The ball rolled to a spot where freshman middie Devon Memis (Ambler, Pa.) had a shot at almost a zero-angle, and he fired his attempt wide.
ollowing nearly twenty minutes of action in which the two teams tangled for balls in the midfield area, Molloy earned a free kick on the near sideline in the Philadelphia attacking end. Whyte took a short free kick, tapping the ball to senior midfielder
Stephen Polimeni (Bellmore, N.Y.) right in front of the two-man wall built by the Rams. Polimeni played the ball quickly back to Whyte who sent in a high, arching shot that took a high bounce into the 18-yard box. Goalie Ben Sauer (Bel Air, Md.) went out to play the attempt on net, but junior forward
Kyle Poetzsch (Hicksville, N.Y.) ran across the line of the shot and sprawled in an effort to get his head on the shot. While unsuccessful, the fake-out play worked as Sauer was caught off his line and the ball bounced into the net for Whyte's ECC-best fifth goal of the season.
From the moment the goal was scored, the Lions were on defense as Philadelphia threw shot after shot on net. Tappeto, however, was up to the task and continued to stonewall the Rams on offense. With about 12 minutes to go, however, Calwrie went back to his ways of being a nuisance in the Molloy back end. First, he deflected a clear attempt by Tappeto and back-heeled a shot into the net for what appeared to be the tying goal. However, the near-side assistant official flagged the senior for an offsides foul to negate the equalizer. Several minutes later, Calwrie came close to equalizing as he dribbled inside the 18-yard box around Tappeto and fired shot goalward. Sophomore back
Dale McNevin (Centereach, N.Y.) was on the back line and cleared the ball from going in, and Calwrie's header attempt went wide of the cage.
In the second half, Molloy nearly doubled their lead off of another set piece. This time, junior midfielder
Lucio Sorto (Baldwin, N.Y.) bent in a corner kick towards the box and senior
Ryan Fackner (North Babylon, N.Y.) put a head on the in-swinger to send it towards goal. Sauer was out of position for the Rams on the touch line, but the attempt was cleared away by the Philadelphia defense. That would be the last shot Molloy took on net for 35 minutes, as the Rams countered with 18 consecutive shot attempts that resulted in just three more saves from Tappeto. The other fifteen shots went either wide, high or were blocked, keeping the visiting side off of the scoreboard for good.
Tappeto may have played his best game in net in a Molloy uniform as he appeared unfazed by Philadelphia's 31 shot attempts. A total of 11 shots went on goal for the Rams, and Tappeto earned the clean sheet by stopping ten of those attempts against him, with McNevin making the 11th save. The visitors also won 11 corners to just one for Molloy, but at the end of the game it was Whyte's free kick goal standing tall as the lone tally on the sheet. Brilliant defensive work from the Lions' entire defensive line included red-shirt senior
George Sinacore (Massapequa Park, N.Y.), junior
Steven Jimenez (East Elmhurst, N.Y.), McNevin and fellow sophomore
Chris Moschella (Miller Place, N.Y.) while red-shirt freshman
Kenny Joseph (Great Neck, N.Y.) earned quality minutes off the bench and did a spectacular job late in the game of clearing the ball away from the Molloy 18-yard box.
The Lions will look to capitalize on the momentum as they host ECC rival Dowling in a "Battle of the Lions" on Saturday (Sept. 26). The Golden Lions and Lions will kick off at Darcy Field in Rockville Centre at 3 p.m. Be sure to follow www.MolloyLions.com for all the latest up-to-the-minute information about your Molloy College men's soccer team.
