Box Score NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University men's soccer team won their home opener on Saturday afternoon against the Le Moyne Dolphins, 2-0.
With the victory, the Owls improve to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the NE-10. The Dolphins fall to 2-1 and 0-1 in the conference.
The first goal came from
Chae Brangman (St. George's, Bermuda) in the 74
th minute.
Noah Varonier (Miller Place, N.Y.) punted the ball three-quarters the length of the field and after it bounced a few times, Brangman was able to settle under it and one-time it to the right of Le Moyne's keeper Ben Beaury.
Two minutes later, Louis Greenway-Tambini (Nottingham, England) extended the lead with his second goal of the year. It started with a
Tyler Naef (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.) shot from right of the net. Beaury made the save but did not control the ball and as it rolled toward the net and players scrambled around it, Greenway-Tambini was able to get to it and push it past the goal line.
Southern got the majority of the scoring chances throughout the game, consistently looking for the long ball to Brangman or Greenway-Tambini, who both started at forward. SCSU put seven shots on goal, while Le Moyne only managed four shots total, none of them on goal.
In that sense, it was an easy game for Varonier, but he nearly made a costly error in the middle of the first half. A cross was delivered right in front of him which he tried to punch out, but missed. The ball fell to Le Moyne's Cal Filtch who nudged the ball towards the open net, but it was blocked and cleared away by a member of the Southern Connecticut back line.
The stats are in the favor of Southern Connecticut in this game. The Owls outshot the Dolphins 13 to four, outdid them in corner kicks four to one, and generally got the better scoring chances. Brangman totaled four shots during the game, and Greenway-Tambini just missed a second goal when he fired a shot from about 25 yards out that sailed over the net and hit the bottom bar of the field goal post right above the top crossbar.
The Owls return to action Wednesday, September 16 at 6 p.m. when they travel to Bridgeport to take on the Bridgeport Purple Knights.
