More late heroics keep Lions perfect

There was a strong sense of déjà vu for the men’s soccer team last night as Columbia (3-0) battled hard to down Saint Peter’s (2-1) and stretch its winning streak to three. Just as on Sunday against Sacred Heart, junior forward Will Stamatis saw his left-footed effort find the back of the net in the first period of overtime. However, the Lions were far from pleased with their performance against the Peacocks (0-3).

“A very frustrating night,” head coach Kevin Anderson said. “We’re only three games into the season but we certainly didn’t follow our game plan and we made it a very, very difficult night. And, if we’re being fair, I think we got fortunate to walk away with a result.”

The Light Blue made two changes to the side that defeated the Pioneers, with junior Brendan O’Hearn and sophomore Steven Daws being called onto the starting line-up. Faced with adverse weather conditions, both teams struggled to control possession and establish a foothold in the early exchanges, resulting in scrappy play from both sides. The Lions had a chance to break the deadlock in the 5th minute when the Peacocks’ backline failed to deal with a long ball from Columbia goalkeeper Alex Aurrichio, but Ivy League Player of the Week David Najem’s touch around Johan Romero in the Peacocks’ goal was too heavy, and he could only manage a shot into the side netting.

After that, neither side was able to dictate the proceedings, due in large part to the weather. The Lions had shouts for a penalty turned down in the 28th minute, when Najem was brought down in the box. Moments later, the Lions almost went ahead through an unlikely source. Senior left-back Jesse Vella struck a thunderous effort from outside the box after he had won the ball—but his shot rebounded off the crossbar with Romero well beaten.

The Lions would rue their misfortune as the Peacocks did not waste time in having a go of their own, and a through ball from junior Lennard Ann released Harry Newman, who finished past Aurrichio for the Peacocks’ first goal of the campaign. The Lions led the shot count 9-3 at the break, but went in trailing the match 1-0.

The score line remained unchanged until the 67th minute, when Stamatis released sophomore Henning Sauerbier on the left-side before dashing into the box to head the German’s cross past Romero to level the encounter.

The Light Blue was almost undone when a slip in the 74th minute by freshman Jack Gagne, who made his Columbia debut off the bench, allowed Betim Bajrami to get a shot away from close-range, but Aurrichio was there to spare the rookie any blushes.

Both sides attempted to break the deadlock, but the rest of normal time remained scoreless and the match went into overtime.

Freshman Noah Sadaoui had a chance to win it for the Peacocks only two minutes into the first additional period, but he dragged his effort wide. Soon after, Bajrami found himself in behind the defense, and his cross was spilled by Aurrichio, but senior midfielder Kevin Olson spurned the opportunity to win the contest for the visitors.

With 1:16 remaining in the period, Stamatis volleyed from outside the area after an assist by senior co-captain Mike Mazzullo to give the Lions the win.

Anderson reserved words of praise for the match-winner, who now has three goals in three games this season.

“Will Stamatis, an absolutely fantastic, fantastic performance,” Anderson said. “We talked about individuals bringing things to the table, and guys accenting their strengths. I mean, you saw him tonight—and again, he’s crafty, with the ability to strike balls, and we saw him come through for us again tonight. So for us, he’s certainly our man of the match.”

Stamatis, who had two goals from nine shots on the night, was less pleased with his individual showing and credited his teammates for the win.

“I don’t know, I had 30 shots, something like that, so some of them have got to go in,” he said. “The boys held down again, all that starts from the midfield—Mazz holding it down, everyone really doing what we need to do, and now we’re 3-0 going to New Mexico so we’re just going to do the best we can out there.”

The Lions head to Albuquerque later this week for the TLC Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Lobo Invite, and Anderson will waste no time in beginning the preparations for the trip.

“When you struggle and you win a game you’ve got to be thankful, so we’ll be thankful,” he said. “But we’re going to be meeting here in a little bit and going over some stuff and getting prepared for our trip to New Mexico.”