The American University’s men’s soccer team (3-6-4) tied the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (3-9-2) in their Patriot League home opener on Sep. 19.
The Eagles entered the game off the back of a split two-game road trip, defeating Patriot League opponent Colgate 1-0 and falling 2-0 against the University of North Carolina. The Greyhounds entered the game off back-to-back home losses vs. the University of Delaware and Lehigh University.
Within the opening two minutes of the game, the Eagles won the first corner after strong attacking play. Junior midfielder Oliver Snowdon put a dangerous ball into the box, but no player was able to get on the end of it.
After a good combination on the Eagles’ right side of the attack between junior midfielder Chris Sullivan and sophomore defender Finn O’Brien, American earned another corner. This time, Snowdon’s cross was easily punched away by Loyola freshman goalkeeper Felix Huebner.
Immediately after the corner, Loyola threatened sophomore goalkeeper Evan Tubbs with two quick chances in the span of less than a minute that led to no avail.
Later in the game, graduate student midfielder Sebastian Garces gave away a free kick to the Greyhounds, who quickly rotated to Loyola junior midfielder Tyler Flynn, whose shot hit the crossbar.
The game did not come without some penalty controversy. After the Greyhounds lost possession of the ball in the midfield, Snowdon initiated an attack by laying it off to Garces, who played it to junior forward Patryk Rojek. As Rojek lined up for a shot in the box, Tucker came in from behind and appeared to make contact. The call on the field was no foul, and though head coach Zach Samol used his challenge to initiate a video review, the challenge was unsuccessful.
The Greyhounds began to establish themselves in the game, and a few minutes later they earned a free kick in a dangerous area after senior defender Ian Webb-Johnson elbowed a Greyhounds attacker while challenging for a header. The shot from the Greyhounds’ freshman midfielder Lukas Cortes just nearly missed the top left crossbar. A few minutes later, Cortes forced Tubbs into action, albeit an easy save from outside the box.
As the clock dwindled, signifying the end of the first half, things looked grim. Right before the half was called, American sophomore defender Mason Miller was carded for an inappropriate celebration, and at the half, the Greyhounds had 6 shots while the Eagles had none.
Starting the second half with momentum, Miller had a chance off a corner delivered by senior midfielder Reyes Parra. However, Miller could not get any direction on his header.
Thanks to a tackle from freshman Henrick Boahen, Rojek created an opportunity: Boahen dribbled to create space before playing Rojek in behind the Greyhounds’ defense. Rojek cut inside from the left and then put the ball into the back of the net, tying the game. This was both Rojek’s and Boahen’s first goal contributions for the Eagles in their careers.
Similar to the first half, the Greyhounds grew into the game. Eight minutes after conceding the goal, the Greyhounds found their equalizer through Flynn with a shot finding the top corner despite Snowdon’s defensive efforts.
Sullivan had the best chance of putting the Eagles ahead after a poor pass from a Greyhounds defender allowed Sullivan a 1-on-1 vs. Huebner, but the Greyhounds goalie was quick off his line and denied Sullivan the go-ahead goal.
Try as they might, American couldn’t find a way to break down Loyola to create an opportunity to take the lead. American is now 4-1-1 in Patriot League play while Loyola improves to 2-3-1 in conference play.
“Our first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half I thought [were] good,” Samol said. “I think the last 30 minutes after we scored the goal, I would say that our performance wasn’t quite there and we’re going to want more from the guys.”
The Eagles return home for back to back conference games against the Lafayette Leopards on Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 against the Holy Cross Crusaders.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen, Jack Stashower and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing by Avery Grossman, Jaden Maitland Anderson, Abigail Jose and Ryan Sieve. Fact-checking done by Luca Palma Poth.
sport@theeagleonline.com
