Men's Soccer Pulls Off Key Conference Victory Over DeSales
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Manhattanville men's soccer team defeated the DeSales Bulldogs on Wednesday afternoon by the score of 3-1 in Center Valley, Pa. The Valiants got goals from seniors Erick Olazabal (Milton, Ontario/Bishop Reding) and Eros Olazabal (Milton, Ontario/Bishop Reding), as well as sophomore Alem Pelinkovic (Bronx, N.Y./Iona Prep) for his first career goal.
The Bulldogs opened up the game with the first shot of the contest off the foot of Padraic Farrell that was stopped by Valiant goalkeeper Steve Singson (Deer Park, N.Y./St. Anthony's). [Erick] Olazabal picked up Manhattanville's first shot of the game a few plays later that went wide of the target.
As the game crossed into the 20th minute, the Valiants were awarded a corner kick that [Erick] Olazabal sent into the box and eventually found the foot of Pelinkovic who sent it to the back of the goal to put Manhattanville up by an early 1-0 score.
After an offsides call against the Valiants, Manhattanville got the ball right back after a turnover from DeSales and [Erick] Olazabal sent towards the goal from about 25-yard out that slipped through Colin Sulpizio's gloves and into the goal to put the Valiants up 2-0 with 23:04 gone by in the game.
"We started the game with good energy and maintained that especially in the first half," said head coach Gregg Miller after the game. "I was pleased to see the guys able to capitalize on some things we had worked on in training."
Eight minutes later the Valiants' hard work continued to pay off as [Eros] Olazabal netted his fifth goal of the season after pickin up a pass from classmate Zack Weidner (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls) to put Manhattanvillle up by three goals.
DeSales didn't quit easily as they picked up a goal less than two minutes later to pull the game back within two as Darby Alafoginis was able to get one by Singson on a header off of a long throw-in by Tyler Nolan.
The final seven minutes of the first half ticked off the clock with the Valiants registering two more shots through the waning minutes as they took their 3-1 lead into the break.
After the break both teamed continued to pick up several more shots apiece through the second stanza, with no success as both Singson and Sulpizio stopped everything sent their way. Final shots were in favor of Manhattanville at 15-9, while corner kicks were in favor of DeSales at 6-2.
Earning his fifth win of the season was Singson (5-3-3) while making a pair of saves and allowing the lone Bulldog tally through 90 minutes of play. Taking the loss was Sulpizio (7-5-3) made a total of three saves while allowing the three first half Valiant markers.
"Everyone played their part in a solid road win. We have proven to ourselves that we can compete with good teams both home and away now," Miller continued. "For the first time this season we put a string of good results together, let's hope we can maintain that in the remaining weeks of the season."
With the win Manhattanville clinches at least a tie for fourth place in the Freedom Conference standings, but have still not clinched a playoff berth with two games to go in the conference schedule as only seven points separate first place to sixth place in league standings.
Manhattanville (7-5-3, 4-1-0 Freedom) will next take on the Wilkes Colonels at 3:30 p.m. from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. DeSales (8-5-3, 2-2-1 Freedom) will be on the road for their final two games including their next, against Delaware Valley at 2:30 p.m. in Doylestown, Pa.
