Men’s Soccer: Cadets Fall 4-2 to Johnson State in Season Opener
JOHNSON, Vt. – The Norwich men's soccer team surrendered a goal in the third minute of Thursday's season opener at Johnson State and was never able to recover, falling 4-2 to the Badgers in non-conference action.
Johnson State's Ryan Demars took advantage of an NU defender slipping and found freshman Randall Strand with a cross pass to the far post, that Strand promptly buried into a wide-open net to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead just 2:38 into the game.
"It's tough going behind that early especially in the first game," Norwich coach Kyle Dezotell said. "It was just jitters and we made some silly mistakes. On the first goal, our left back slipped and they got in behind us. Those things happen and it certainly didn't help, forcing us to try and come from behind the whole game."
The Badgers (1-0, 0-0 NAC) added to their lead in the 27th minute when Drew Steady scored on a diving header off a cross pass from the right wing from the foot of Richie Perez.
Although Norwich (0-1, 0-0 GNAC) dominated the possession and scoring chances throughout first half, the Cadets were unable to get on the board until the final minute of the half when junior midfielder Garrett Shufelt buried a sliding cross pass from senior Ryan Robertson with 18 seconds left.
Norwich outshot Johnson State 10-3 after the first 45 minutes and had eight corner kicks to the Badgers' one.
Johnson State regained its two-goal lead in the 58th minute when once again Demars found Strand on a crossing pass that left Norwich goaltender Alex Toomey with no chance.
"Johnson State was opportunistic," Dezotell said. "They scored three goals and our goalkeeper had yet to make a save and none of them were his fault, pretty much every time they put it on frame it went in the goal. Sometimes you just have those days."
Shufelt reignited the Cadets' chances in the 86th minute when he took advantage of a loose ball in the box to beat Johnson State goalkeeper Ryan Belen for his second goal of the game and cutting the deficit to 3-2.
However, the momentum was short lived as Johnson State answered right back just 1:16 later when Faisal Hilowle beat Toomey high from the top of the box off a corner kick to give the Badgers a two-goal lead again.
Freshman goalkeeper Christian Hallstrom made his first collegiate appearance in the final moments of the game after Toomey was red carded for clipping a Johnson State player in the box.
The Badgers were awarded a penalty kick on the play and Hallstrom promptly turned aside the PK attempt by getting a foot on the shot.
The Cadets outshot Johnson State 25-10. Sam Martin picked up the win for Johnson State after making four saves in the first half. Toomey was saddled with the loss for NU after making two saves on six shots.
"We actually played quite well," Dezotell said. "I told the kids after the game that in terms of possession, attacking and chances it was probably the best we've played in a couple of years. The only thing that was missing was competing a little bit."
Norwich will look for its first win of 2011 when it returns to action this weekend at the Roger Williams Tournament in Bristol, R.I. The Cadets will face Rhode Island College on Saturday and then follow up with Roger Williams on Sunday.
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