In a weekend composed of parades, marching band debuts, and a triumphant football game, Stony Brook’s men’s soccer team wrapped up the festivities with an upset victory over 25th ranked Boston University this past Sunday.
In the 80th minute, freshman midfielder, Oscar Leis, scored his third goal of the season off of a 25 yard free kick which gave the Seawolves the lead and ultimately the game. This victory improved the team’s overall record to 5-9 and their America East conference record to 2-2-0 while the lost dropped the Terriers to 1-2-1 in the conference.
The Seawolves came out of the gate a bit stagnant which was surprising since they had recently beaten a tough UMBC squad in their home opener. About ten minutes into the match this lethargic play turned into a physical contest with a plethora of both air and ground collisions. The teams vied intensely for possession, but it appeared that the majority of the bounces were going the opposition’s way.
During this first half the Seawolves had their backs against the walls as they were out shot by BU 7-5. Goal Keeper Rich Skoblicki conducted a masterpiece in net. He saved three high quality strikes taken by the Terrier players, saves which would pay dividends in the second half.
For the second game in a row, the start of the second half seemed to trigger some innate form of aggressiveness within the Seawolves that was lacking throughout the previous 45 minutes. The loose balls were constantly being retrieved by the Seawolves’ midfielders, and the defensive back four remained solid and were able to halt all of the offensive campaigns the Terriers threw at them.
There were times in this period of play where the bystanders were unable to tell which one of the two teams on the pitch was recognized nationally as one of the country’s top twenty five collegiate men’s soccer teams and which one was not. Stony Brook out shot BU 12-6 in this period which is one of the key reasons they were able to pull out this win.
Five of the Seawolves’ players – Tamer Mohamed, Michael Palacio, Adam Ciklic, Yahaya Musa, and Oscar Leis – all took at least two cracks at the Terrier’s goal during the game. With constant pressure being applied to BU by all eleven Stony Brook players it was only a matter of time before the Seawolves’ efforts found them the back of the Terrier’s net.
Finally, the tie was broken by Leis’ blast with about ten minutes left in the contest. The kick soared through the air and fell into the goal right beneath the crossbar and past a diving Terrier keeper. Skoblicki slammed the door shut on any possible comeback by the Terriers as he held them scoreless in the remaining minutes for his second straight shutout.
The next stop for the men’s soccer team is Connecticut, where the Seawolves will be squaring off against their division rival, Hartford, on Wednesday October 11 at 6:00 pm.
