Doherty tallies his first goal of the season
Vercollone tallied his first goal of the season and third career score |
ALBANY, New York (September 29, 2018) –The Stonehill College men's soccer team snapped its four-game road losing streak with a 2-1 victory Saturday afternoon against Northeast-10 Conference foe College of Saint Rose on Sullivan Field.
Stonehill (4-4-1, 3-3-0 NE10) saw seniors Stephen Vercollone (Pembroke, Massachusetts/Pembroke) and Patrick Doherty (West Milford, New Jersey/Saint Joseph Regional) register their first goals of the season, while Vercollone also tallied the assist in Doherty's score. Junior goalkeeper Billy Troast (Pompton Plains, New Jersey/Pequannock Township) match won his second game of the season recording four saves in the victory.
The Skyhawks scored the first goal of the game off Vercollone's third goal of his career and first of the season at 2:17 in the first half. The senior midfielder headed the ball and collected it with another header putting the ball deep into the box over the goalkeeper for a 1-0 advantage. Stonehill saw back-to-back corner kicks, but were unable to capitalize as Saint Rose cleared the ball out of the box both times. Doherty followed Vercollone's footsteps with his own header as he put one into the top right corner off a restart from the left side with a helper from his classmate at 30:07. At the end of the first half, the Skyhawks outshot the Golden Knights 6-1.
Saint Rose wouldn't go down without a fight, as the Golden Knights cut the deficit to one, 2-1, with a header by Victor Goncalves-Rocha at 51:37. A foul was called on Stonehill and Saint Rose capitalized on the free kick from about 25 yards out from Niv Fogel off the right flank who lifted the ball to find Goncalves-Rocha for the header.
Stonehill's defense reacted well throughout the second half, as Saint Rose totaled 15 shots to the Skyhawks zero. Three shots were blocked by Stonehill, while one ricocheted off the post, and Troast stopped four of the five shots on goal. The Skyhawks tallied two corner kicks during the Golden Knights offensive rally, but Stonehill held its ground and kept Saint Rose from scoring.
Stonehill opens October with two home games, hosting Le Moyne College first on Saturday, October 6 with a start time of 11:00 a.m. on Skyhawk Field and following that up with another NE10 Conference game against Bentley University on Wednesday, October 10 at W.B. Mason Stadium for a 7:00 p.m. Purple and White Match.
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