No. 1 Men's Soccer Remains Perfect; Topples UMass-Lowell, 3-0
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 10, 2012) – The No. 1 LIU Post men's soccer team rolled to its 12th consecutive win on Wednesday afternoon with a convincing 3-0 victory over No. 5 University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
The Pioneers go to 12-0 on the season, the longest winning streak and best start to the season in program history, as the 12 games best last year's streak of 11-0 to open the season. The River Hawks suffer their first loss of the season as they now stand at 10-1-1 overall.
Leading the attack for the Pioneers were juniors
Eirik Bjoernoe (Randaberg, Norway),
Cemil Turan (Staten Island, N.Y.) and
Jonathon Watkin (Doncaster, England), who each scored for the hosts in the victory.
The Pioneers pressured the River Hawk goal from the get-go, as junior
Leron Haywood (Rosedale, N.Y.) got off a header just six minutes in that was headed right for the back of the net, but River Hawk keeper Christopher Maierle made a nice save to divert the shot.
After a yellow card was issued to the River Hawks at close to midfield, the Pioneers took a long free kick into the box, but another River Hawk foul inside the penalty box led to a penalty kick for the Pioneers. Bjoernoe stepped up and nailed the ball into the lower left for a 1-0 lead.
The Pioneers held onto the 1-0 lead through the remainder of the first half and for much of the second half as well, as they outshot the River Hawks but could not find the insurance goal.
UMass-Lowell had several chances in the box as well, as Daniel Galvin missed just wide in the 60th minute, then shot directly at Pioneer keeper
Marco Jorgensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) in the 70th minute.
But the insurance goal finally came for the Pioneers in the 74th minute as senior
Andreas Olson (Oppeid, Norway) took the ball deep into the left corner, then sent a long cross across the goal mouth. Maierle punched the ball away, but right to Turan, who placed a 15-yard shot from the top right of the box into the lower corner for a 2-0 lead.
The Pioneers added another in the 88th minute as Bjoernoe played a long through ball to Watkin that he shot into the lower right corner for his third goal of the season.
Game totals saw the Pioneers hold an 18-9 edge in shots, along with a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Maierle made five saves for the River Hawks, while Jorgensen posted his fourth shutout of the season with four stops.
After playing their last two games at home, the Pioneers take to the road for their next two, playing at neighboring NYIT on Saturday, Oct. 13 in a rematch of last year's ECC Championship, then traveling to Philadelphia on Oct. 16 for a 3 p.m. tilt against the Rams.