The News RecordPublished: Sunday, October 25, 2009
The University of Cincinnati men’s soccer team lost its final home match of the year to St. John’s 2-1 on senior night Saturday, Oct. 24.
“The first 25 minutes of the game we played well, carried the game and had chances,” said UC head coach Hytlon Dayes. “When you’re playing well and you have chances, you have to finish them because St. John’s is very opportunistic.”
Cincinnati (8-8-0, 3-6-0 Big East) had plenty of scoring chances early as junior forward Branden Stelmak’s shot was saved in the second minute of play and sophomore forward Francesco Furio’s shot barely missed, sailing wide right of the goal in the eighth minute.
Then against the run of play, the Red Storm capitalized on a free kick when Tadeu Terra scored on a rebound off of UC goalie Matt Williams in the 33rd minute.
St. John’s had a 1-0 halftime lead, however, both teams played sloppy and didn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities.
The Bearcats outshot St. John’s 8-4 in the first half.
Cincinnati started out hot in the second half and D.J. Albert found the back of the net less than three minutes in. Albert lost the ball at mid-field, but won it back with a slide tackle and then dribbled his way into the box where his shot beat the keeper at the near post.
“We broke the second half down into 15 minute periods. We wanted to push early in the second half to get one back,” Dayes said. “Our guys are probably upset that they didn’t get anything off the chances we had in the first half and now we had to go chase
the game.”
The Red Storm scored the game-winning goal in the 69th minute. Becerra’s corner kick was headed by Walter Hines and, despite a diving save attempt by Williams, Trevor Chiduku managed to score on the rebound with a header.
“We executed on everything except restarts, which is where St. John’s scored both of their goals,” Dayes said.
Matt Bahner had the last opportunity to score in the 89th minute when a low cross from Chris Mitchell found him in the box, but his half volley went over the goal.
Seniors Judson McKinney and Luke Henke were honored before the game.
“Judy (McKinney) and Luke are two great kids. They have given their heart and soul to this program. I know our guys wanted to send them out with a win on senior night,” Dayes said. “They understand the importance of commitment and they are team players. I am just proud that I was able to coach them for four years.”
The Bearcats close out the season against Louisville Wednesday, Oct. 28, and against Syracuse Saturday, Oct. 31.
“Were not going to hang our heads, we have two games left and we still have a chance to make the Big East Tournament,” Dayes said.
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