Cards open GLIAC schedule with home loss to Gannon

September 11, 2006 —

by Brandon Kish

Freshman forward Kevin Fox marks Gannon midfielder Brian Yanful in the second half of Sunday's game at home. Fox scored the lone goal for the Cardinals in their 3-1 loss.

by Brandon Kish

Sophomore midfielder Ryan Seelhoff looks for an opening on the right side of the field against Gannon on Sunday. The Cardinals loss dropped their record to 2-2 on the season.

A controversial ejection and some incisive passing by Gannon led to the SVSU men's soccer team's second 3-1 loss of the season.

The Cardinals started strong, displaying some crisp passing down the wings in the early parts of the game, which the Golden Knights defense initially found troublesome. As the first half wore on, however, the Knights got accustomed to the Cardinals' aggressive style, and a swift counterattack by Gannon opened a hole in SVSU's defense and allowed Rudi Costa of Johannesburg, South Africa to net the opening goal for Gannon.

Junior Cardinals goalkeeper Eric Carnes, mentioned that "almost all of their passes [in the box] were one to two touches." That kind of passing is what allowed Costa to put the first one in for the Knights.

The Cardinals held fast, however, and continued to press the attack throughout the remainder of the first half. Gannon also employed their deadly counterattack to their advantage, forcing Carnes to make a couple of crucial saves to keep the game within reach. The half ended with the score 1-0.

The tempo of the second half was dominated by Gannon, which began to assume more and more control of the ball. The ejection of freshman SVSU defender Paul Kutzura in the 57th minute elicited booing from the crowd and a spirited defense by SVSU coach Andy Rishmawi. Nonetheless, the Cardinals managed to score short-handed just two minutes after the red card put Kutzura on the sidelines. The goal came courtesy of freshman forward Kevin Fox, who scored unassisted.

But it didn't take long for Gannon to recapture the lead, as SVSU enjoyed two minutes of a tie before Craig Slaubaugh put a ball in the back of the net off a corner kick. After the Golden Knights had regained the lead, they began to suffocate the Cardinals defense, forcing Carnes, who had seven for the day, to again come up with several big saves.

Costa's second goal in the 79th minute put the Cardinals away.

"Our passing wasn't good at all this game," Rishmawi said. "We needed more on-target passes."

The Cardinals are back at .500 at 2-2 overall as Gannon improved to 3-2. SVSU travels to Indianapolis on Wednesday before hosting Findlay and Ashland next weekend.