The American University men’s soccer team (4-5-1) won a home contest against the Army Black Knights (3-3-4) on Sept. 27 by a score of 3-1.
Youth soccer players and their parents from the D.C. area were in attendance as American hosted a postgame soccer clinic.
Entering the game, the Eagles were on a run of fantastic results, picking up three straight 1-0 wins, including two conference wins, at home versus Colgate and on the road against Loyola Maryland and another home win versus the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Army entered the game off back-to-back draws, first at Stony Brook, then at home against Lehigh.
The Eagles started the game on the front foot, immediately applying pressure on Army’s defence and earning a corner within the first minute of the game. In the opening 15 minutes, with their build-up play and counterpressing led by graduate forward Mustapha Sowe, AU pinned Army in its own defensive third.
Sowe had the first shot on target of the game when sophomore midfielder Oliver Snowdon’s corner was deflected by senior midfielder Troy Elgersma and fell right to Sowe, who headed it on target. After the first 15 minutes, Army started to claw back a little momentum when the Eagles gave them two free kicks in dangerous areas.
This was short-lived, when in the 22nd minute of the game, senior midfielder Sebastian Garces combined with Sowe to score the opening goal of the game. Garces stole the ball from the Army defender before passing it to Sowe, who then put Garces’s attack through one on one with the goalie.
Despite conceding the opening goal and getting off to a slow start, the Black Knights responded in the last 10 minutes of the half. They applied pressure on the American defense, including forcing two good saves out of senior goalie Matthew Tibbetts. With less than a minute left, Army got its equalizer from sophomore defender Kasem Minzey, who scored off a rebound from the initial save by Tibbetts.
After a pretty even first half, it was the second half where the Eagles really asserted their dominance over the Black Knights. American managed to hold the Black Knights to zero shots on goal, while looking dangerous offensively with every attack.
At the start of the second half, both teams were looking for a way to take the lead, when in the 59th minute junior midfielder Reyes Parra scored an incredible goal from the edge of the 18-yard box. It almost appeared to be a cross, and gave American the 2-1 lead. This was the first goal of Parra’s collegiate career.
Just nine minutes later, Snowdon also tried his luck from far out, but his attempt was saved. American had control of the midfield in the second half, anchored by Elgersma, who Army couldn’t get the ball off of. With that control, American easily beat the Army press throughout the game. They cut off Army’s midfield options, forcing their centerbacks and goalkeeper to play long balls over the top.
Five minutes later, in the 73rd minute, after receiving a pass from Elgersma, sophomore midfielder Chris Sullivan drove at the Army defence. He played a quick pass to Garces at the top of the box, who quickly laid it off to freshman forward Nicholas Beil. Beil then fired a half volley into the back of the net, extending the lead to 3-1 American.
Towards the end of the game, a drizzle came down, but it didn’t stop American from continuing to attack. The Eagles had a chance to extend the lead when Beil played in behind the Army defence, though his shot was saved by Army sophomore goalkeeper Michael Guiry. American was unable to add to the tally and the game ended 3-1.
“I think we played well in the first half, but in the last 20 minutes, Army was pressuring us,” Garces said. “Then we had a little chat at halftime and I think we switched it around for sure. In the second half we just went all gas with no brakes and it clearly showed it 3-1.”
Head coach Zach Samol echoed similar thoughts.
“I thought the start was fantastic but the last 20 minutes I thought Army started to come into the game more,” he said. “But in the second half our guys came out and put the foot down and they went back at it again. I’m really impressed with the response to giving up the goal and just us making the game that we wanted it to be”.
This win made it four in a row for American, who now sits atop the Patriot League standings at 3-0, while Army drops to 1-1-1 in conference play.
On the keys to the recent success, Garces said, “just trusting our guys and consistency, we’ve been harping on that in training. The boys are training very well recently, and so we want to keep trusting the process and keep trusting coach.”
Samol agreed on the importance of training for the team’s success.
“I almost think this is our best performance yet,” he said. “So I think we’re training better right now and I think the intensity and the quality in which we’re training and I think the games are showing that.”
Elgersma, Tibbetts, senior defender Jonah Fogel, graduate defender Taku Takahashi, sophomore midfielder Kobe Keomany and junior defender Ian Webb-Johnson all played the full 90 minutes.
Takahashi was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week, and Garces was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week.
American had five shots on target compared to Army’s three, and had six corners compared to Army’s five. Meanwhile, the Eagles drew nine fouls from Army while only committing six fouls.
The Eagles return home after a two-game road trip on Oct. 11 on Reeves Field to take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
Correction: A previous version incorrectly spelled the word "breaks" in a quote. It has been updated to correctly read "brakes."
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Penelope Jennings and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting and Ariana Kavoossi.
