Men drop seventh straight

by Aaron Crossen
Vanguard Editor-in-Chief

October 2, 2006 —

The SVSU men's soccer team dropped its seventh consecutive game on Saturday, losing 5-1 to Mercyhurst.

The Lakers, who came into the game leading the GLIAC with a 4-0 conference record, got three goals from forward Kurt Young.

As has been the case for most of the season, the Cards dominated possession in the first half of the match, allowing only one goal in the 34th minute by Young. SVSU also logged four shots on the Lakers' goal, including an early attempt by sophomore forward Brent Walker that bounced off of the woodwork.

Cardinals junior keeper Eric Carnes kept the game in reach with two saves in the 4th and 11th minutes off of shots by Lakers attackers Jason Pedra and Zach Hiltner.

SVSU quickly countered with two shots of their own, by seniors Matt Urick and Ryan Norman, forcing Mercyhurst keeper Daniel Mudd off his line to make two big saves for the Lakers.

SVSU coach Andy Rishmawi said he is keenly aware of the Cards' troubles in finishing.

"What can I say? They finished and we didn't," he stated.

Things began to change for the worse when Young netted his first of the day, just two minutes after SVSU freshman Kevin Fox recorded a shot on Mudd. The Cards continually failed to jump-start their stalled offense and the game took a decidedly physical turn, with both squads logging five hard fouls without a shot on goal before the halftime whistle.

After the halftime break, the Cardinals began to fall apart, even after holding the conference leader to one goal, displaying superior conditioning, beating their opponents to loose balls and punishing poor defending with shots on net in the first period.

SVSU recorded an additional three shots on goal in the opening stanza of the second half before Young scored his second of the afternoon unassisted in the 60th minute. His hat trick followed shortly thereafter, temporarily putting the game out of reach until Walker blasted one past Mudd from the rim of the 20-yard box in the 79th minute, bringing the Cards to within two goals.

A rare error from the normally solid Carnes put Mercyhurst back up by three, and a fifth goal by Shotaro Itaya sealed the game in the 85th minute of the contest.

Even with a scoreline of 5-1, the Cards controlled 50 percent of the match, making it all the more unfortunate that the game turned out as it did.

"We're getting better every game," Rishmawi said. "Eventually, we'll be the one on the other end of the score. We're just gonna keep pushing through it until we figure out what's gonna take us over the edge."

The loss dropped SVSU to 0-6 in the GLIAC and 2-8 overall, while Mercyhurst improved to 5-0 in the conference and 11-2 overall. SVSU can still hit .500 for the season, and can improve their chances of doing so by winning their next three games, all non-conference matches at home. SVSU hosts Spring Arbor on Oct. 6 and Aquinas on the 7th.

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