Burlington, Vt. - It's an America East
Conference quarterfinal match that the University at Albany men's soccer team won't forget
for a long time. With four minutes remaining and third-seeded Vermont leading, 2-1,
everyone at Centennial Field believed the game was over. However, back-to-back own-goals
in a three minute span by Vermont defenders capped UAlbany's win over Vermont, 3-2, on
Saturday afternoon. First-year head coach Trevor Gorman grabbed his first postseason win
and the just the second overall for the men's soccer program.
With Vermont (9-7-1) ahead, 1-0, at
the half, UAlbany looked to tie the match. In the 63rd minute co-captain
David Pinto was pressuring the Catamount defense. He sent a crossing pass inside the box
to teammate Brandon Wilson, who headed the ball towards the net, but was denied by
Vermont goalkeeper David Ramada. Then, in the 76th minute, Pomare Te
Anau and Wilson hooked up on a bang-bang play to tie the game, 1-1.
In the 86th minute,
UAlbany(6-9-3) experienced d?j? vu when Vermont's DJ Edler delivered the go-ahead goal
with a header off a free kick, which he did to the Great Danes twice six days ago in the
regular season, that looked to take the wind out of the UAlbany sails. With the Great Danes
down a goal and four minutes remaining, the match seemed to be over. However, in the
87th minute, Te Anau sent a crossing pass into the box looking for one of his
teammates, but found a Vermont defender to redirect it in his own goal to tie the game, 2-
2, with about three minutes remaining.
The Great Danes continued pressuring
the Catamount defense, and in the 89th minute as UAlbany's Te Anau
chipped a pass inside the goalkeeper box. Ramada struck it away from the net, only to have
it redirected by his own defender's back to give UAlbany the eventual game-winner.
Physical play highlighted the first half
with Vermont getting the first shot in net.? In the 15th minute the Catamounts
Joe Losier carried the ball inside the 18-yard box and made a crossing pass that eluded the
first Vermont offender but found the foot of Zach Paul, whose shot hit the inner part of the
cross bar to grab the early 1-0 lead.
UAlbany led in corners, 5-1, and the
teams were even in shots,8-8. Vermont's Ramada recorded three saves on six chances, while
UAlbany's Foncette didn't record a save and allowed two goals.
UAlbany advances to the tournament
semifinals for the second time in program history, visiting Stony Brook on Wednesday at 7
p.m.
-agate-
Vermont (9-7-1) ??????????? 1?????????
1????????? -?????????? 2
UAlbany (6-9-3) ??????????? 0?????????
3????????? -?????????? 3
Vermont -Scoring:? D.J Edler (1-1),Zach
Paul (1-0), Juan Peralta (0-1), Joe Losier (0-1). Goalkeeper: David Ramada (90:00, 3 GA, 3
saves)
UAlbany -Scoring: Brandon Wilson (1-
0), Pomare Te Anau (0-1). Goalkeeper: Adrian Foncette (90:00, 2 GA, 0 saves)