Pride Men Suffer 2-0 Defeat Against Roanoke
from Wes Gullett, Sports Information Director at Greensboro College
BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. – The Greensboro College men’s soccer team fell to the Maroons of Roanoke College Wednesday night at Bryan Park’s Macpherson Stadium 2-0.
Defense was the story of the first 45 minutes as neither team was able to get many good looks on goal.
Roanoke’s best scoring opportunity came in the 13th minute but Elmer Martinez made a great diving stop to his right to keep the game scoreless. Later in the half, Greensboro had their opportunity to take the lead but the Maroons goalkeeper made a great stop of his own on a shot from Jordy Briceno to send the game into halftime with no score.
In the second half, both teams possessed the ball well in the midfield but it was Roanoke who broke the scoring open. Dylan Berk cleaned up a loose ball inside the 18-yard box, following a free-kick, and was able to give the Maroons a 1-0 lead.
Greensboro then tried to find the equalizer but Darli Mihindou narrowly missed the top corner of the goal on two separate occasions.
Roanoke then put the game out of the Pride’s reach with the game’s final goal in the 89th minute, securing the two-goal victory.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow tonight, coming out on the wrong side of the result, “Head Coach Tony Falvino said. “The boys played well for large portions of the game and were very dangerous. Unfortunately, loss of focus in critical situations allowed Roanoke to take advantage and I give the full credit for taking their chances.
“It was a great learning experience for our guys this evening. We can take a lot of positives from tonight that we can build upon. We have a short turnaround to our first conference game against William Peace Saturday at home.”
Martinez finished with two saves on the night while Jordy Briceno and Mihindou combined for four shots on goal.
The Pride men will return to action at 4 p.m. Saturday when they host the Pacers of William Peace University to open USA South Athletic Conference play. For more information on Greensboro College men’s soccer, continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.