GAME STATS Mahwah, NJ -- The Wheaton men's soccer team began their two-match nonconference series in New Jersey with a 2-1 loss to Ramapo College on Saturday afternoon. The defeat drops the Thunder to an overall record of 7-4-1 on the year, and the team will be hoping for an instant turnaround in their next match.
Wheaton almost got off to a perfect start when
Joey Sopikiotis forced a save from the Ramapo goalkeeper after only 35 seconds. But the optimism did not last long, as the home side needed only two and a half minutes to open the scoring. Thiago Stallhbaum cut inside from the right flank and found teammate Massimo Gallorini towards the top of the box, and he struck the ball clinically into the bottom corner to give the home side the early lead. The Roadrunners did not slack off in the attack after their goal with
Hasten Biddlecome needing to make three saves in quick succession to prevent Wheaton from falling two goals behind. The Thunder failed to register another shot on target in the entire first half, and only a combination of blocked shots by Thunder defenders and solid goalkeeping stopped the guests from facing a larger halftime deficit.
The second half began in similar fashion, with the Roadrunners winning a corner kick and forcing a team save within the first five minutes. But the match sprang into life just shy of 52 minutes, when
Alessandro D'Argento netted the equalizer completely against the run of play. He combined nicely with
Michael Martens at the top of the box, and Martens turned his defender sharply before rolling it back in the direction of D'Argento, who ran onto the ball and stroked it home after a dummy run by a Wheaton teammate. His fourth goal of the season gave Wheaton the boost they desperately needed, and suddenly it seemed possible that the visitors would spoil the party on Ramapo's senior day.
Once again, however, Wheaton's optimism was short-lived, as the home side regained the lead just three minutes later. Gallorini went from goalscorer to goal provider when he teed up Jonathan Junqueira for what proved to be the winning strike. There were half-hearted appeals for offside from the Wheaton defenders, as Gallorini broke down the wing to play the decisive pass, but the linesman did not raise his flag, and the goal was allowed to stand. Contrary to their response in the first half, the Thunder seized the initiative after falling behind for a second time, and created a flurry of attacking chances, shots on goal, and corner kicks in a desperate attempt to get back on level terms. It was clear that the Roadrunners were feeling the pressure, and the hosts were increasingly willing to employ a defense-first strategy to see out the win. Ramapo only picked up one more shot on target and corner kick after scoring their second goal. Despite Wheaton's offensive intensity in the closing stages of the match, they were not able to find the goal they were looking for, and Junqueira's finish prevented the Thunder from following up their overtime victory against Carthage on Wednesday with another solid road win.
The two teams finished perfectly balanced in shots taken, with 13 for either side across the 90 minutes of play. Ramapo was slightly more precise with their shooting, as ten of their efforts were on frame compared to Wheaton's seven. The Thunder held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks and forced six saves from the Roadrunners, while making eight of their own. There were four yellow cards dished out in today's match, three of which went to the home side. Individually, Sopikiotis had the most shots on target for Wheaton with three, while substitutes
Christian Holland and
Pryse Anderson registered two and one, respectively.
The Thunder will wrap up their fall break trip with a match against Rutgers University-Newark next time out. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 PM ET on Tuesday, October 19th.
