Men’s Soccer Home Unbeaten Streak Snapped by Hartford 1-0 on Senior Day
ALBANY, N.Y..- University at Albany men’s soccer (4-10-4, 2-3-1 AE) fell 1-0 in a tightly-contested, physical America East contest on Saturday night.
“The end of the season is the most exciting time of year, when there’s everything to play for,” said head coach Trevor Gorman. “We have one game left in our season [at Binghamton], and it means everything. As much as this hurts and we’re a little bit disappointed, everything is geared towards Wednesday.”
The Hawks got out to an early 1-0 lead, converting on a volley off a corner kick less than two minutes into the game.
UAlbany opened up the field for combination plays to find open Great Danes. Anthony Rozzano crossed a ball into the Hartford six-yard box that was just over the head of Philip Persson in the 13th minute.
Senior co-captain Thomas Manz streaked through the box on a Persson corner kick in the 31st minute looking for the header finish, but the Hartford goalie punched away the service.
Pomare Te Anau made a run down the right side of the field, nearly touching the ball around the Hawks goalkeeper, but he made the sliding save to kick the ball out of bounds.
Persson continued to play quality balls into the 18-yard box, nearly hitting Interiano early in the second half.
Tensions between the Hawks and the Great Danes hit their peak in 75th minute, when Hartford’s Damion Lowe received his second yellow card, and automatic red card, to be ejected from the contest. Hartford played the last 15 minutes of the game with 10 players. There were six total yellow cards assessed, with the Hawks picking up five of those six.
The Great Danes looked to quickly take advantage, packing the 18-yard box. Brandon Wilson headed a Persson corner across the six-yard box in the 86th minute, where Dominic McGarr was waiting far-post. McGarr couldn’t convert on Wilson’s deflection, and the ball went out of bounds for a Hartford goal kick.
With less than two minutes remaining, Manz skied over the Hartford defense on a free kick service from Te Anau. The deflection fell to Interiano, but he couldn’t find the handle and the Hartford goalie picked up the ball in traffic.
UAlbany out-shot the Hawks 11-8 and held a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks.
The Great Danes will conclude their regular season schedule at Binghamton on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m.
