Men’s Soccer beats Siena

Aryanna Ramsaran, Staff Writer

The men’s soccer team came back with a win after losing their four-game winning streak to Colgate Sept. 16.

The Catamounts won 1-0 against Siena College Sept. 18, bringing their record to 6-2 before the start of their America East conference games.

Head coach Rob Dow said the team improved most on their discipline after their loss against Colgate University.

Ten minutes into the game, the Catamounts scored an early goal when senior forward Geo Alves scored on an assist from sophomore midfielder Dadi Baerings Halldorsson.

“I thought tonight we showed that we’re going to stay focused on us …  and not worry about things in the game that we cannot control,” Dow said.

The team fought to keep their 1-0 lead throughout the rest of the game.

“It was kind of tough that we didn’t get another goal early in the second half,” senior goalie Clay Thomas said. “But, I think we made them uncomfortable and made them push forward so that we could counter and get opportunities.”

When coming out for the second half, the coach gave the team some advice before taking the field.

“Coach said to keep pressing and get the ball as soon as we lose it, and just be creative on top of the box,” Alves said.

No one scored during the second half, but as time ran out, both teams found themselves pushing harder. This pushing harder lead to frustration from both teams.

Near the end of the second half, a Siena player had to pull his teammate back from the face of a UVM player, as the two of them started shoving each other.

Shortly after, another player from Siena used both hands to push a UVM player from behind before falling on top of him. Yelling erupted from the bleachers and many fans called for the referee to show a yellow card, which didn’t happen.

“Soccer is just like that, when you’re winning by just one goal,” Alves said. “I think you just have to be calm and patient and keep the ball away from your net.”

Both teams had opportunities to score in the last minute.

The game ended with a shot from the Saints resulting in Thomas making his fourth save of the game.

“I think we stayed level-headed and protected the net. I think we did everything we could to keep the ball out of the back of the net,” Thomas said.

Alves said that as a team they need to work on finishing their games better.

Junior defender Ivar Orn Arnason, first-year midfielder Alex Nagy and senior forwards Trevor Colazzo and Justin Freitas all had shots on goal that were missed opportunities.

In regards to the team’s next game, they need to be more aggressive, Alves said.

“The conference is a whole different season, and each team knows each other so well that anything could happen,” Dow said. “We’re just focused on showing up, being prepared and executing our game plan the best we can.”

The team then travelled to Lowell, Massachusetts Saturday, Sept. 22 where they played UMass Lowell and lost 2-0. Their next game will be 7 p.m. Saturday Sept. 29 at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.