PURCHASE, N.Y.- Eastern University Men's Soccer pressed the
action for nearly the entire 110 minutes at Manhattanville. While they
recorded their ninth shutout of the year, the Eagles were unable to find
the decisive strike and had to settle for a 0-0 draw in Freedom
Conference action.
The Eagles had nearly all the play in the
opening 45 minutes, but they were only able to get two of their first
eight shots on frame. Manhattanville goalkeeper Steve Singson corralled a
Jamie Bonner header in the ninth minute and Eric Giovagnoli's effort in
the 32nd minute was saved off the goal line by a Valiant defender.
The Eagles had an 8-1 edge in shots in the period and a 4-2 edge in corners.
The
host Valiants started the second half again absorbing pressure before
finding their way forward in the 51st minute. The foray into the Eastern
end nearly proved costly as the Eagles found space behind the Valiant
back line on deep pass for Eric Giovagnoli. The speedy Eastern forward
outraced his mark and pushed the ball to Singson's right before the
Valiant backstop tripped him up in the box for a penalty kick.
The Eagles, however, were unable to convert the chance as Jair Saenz missed the upper corner with his attempt.
Following
the penalty kick, the Valiants (3-8-2, 0-2-1 Freedom) were far more
cautious in leaving their back row and the Eagles were forced to try to
find a way to convert on a corner, long throw, or in the run of play
against a packed box.The Eagles had eight corner kicks in the final half
hour of regulation.
It looked as though Giovagnoli had earned
another shot from the spot when he was clipped going into the box in the
76th minute, but the official proved unwilling to award a second
penalty and play continued.
In the 85th minute, the
Manhattanville back row lived up to their mascot's title with
consecutive sprawling blocks of Eastern attempts from close range.
The
game took a surprising twist after that period of sustained pressure.
Manhattanville escaped from its own penalty box and earned a tremendous
chance on a Jamie Macchia header from seven yards out. Joe Centeno
parried it around the post with a diving save to his left.
The
Valiants had an even better chance on the ensuing corner kick. Kevin
O'Reilly found space at the back post and blasted a 12 yard volley that
seemed destined to secure a stolen result for the home side. Centeno
dove to his left to make the save of the match.
The Eagles were unable to find rhythm in either of the overtime frames and the game finished at 0-0.
Centeno
finished with five saves. Singson, despite seeing 18 Eastern shots in
his direction finished with only two saves as the Eagles were only able
to put three attempts on frame for the afternoon.
The tie brings the Eagles (10-2-1, 2-0-1 Freedom) back to the
pack a little in the league and sets up an important home test against
Misericordia this Saturday afternoon. Eastern was ranked No. 25 in the most recent D3Soccer.com national poll.
Box Score
