Brooklyn, NY | It did not come easy, but the College of Staten Island men's soccer unit was able to stay unblemished in CUNYAC play, slipping by Brooklyn College by the narrowest of margins, 1-0, as part of conference play this afternoon at the Brooklyn College Field. CSI, winners of three-straight, ran their overall record up to 9-3 and their CUNYAC record to 4-0, while the Bulldogs fell to 2-11-1, 2-2, respectively.
This one proved to be a stalemate most of the way as both teams struggled for chances and highlights were fairly limited. Both teams did well defensively at tightening their quarters in the final third and when shots did go on frame, the keepers were up to the task. After three straight attempts via the corner, CSI finally registered their first shot just over nine minutes into the game, a wide liner by
Macki Dougoune. The next shot would not come until over 10 minutes later, when CSI keeper
Christian Carucci put a stop to a Julian Calame-Mars offering.
After a trio of first half substitutions, CSI did get a little more offensive, forcing BC keeper, and former Dolphin,
Balint Barabas, to make three saves, keeping the score knotted at 0-0 after the first 45.
CSI did control most of play in the first stanza, but they seriously shifted play in the second, putting on waves of pressure that amounted to an 11-1 edge in total second half shots. Brooklyn's only second-half shot came in the 51st minute, and then the Dolphins slanted play. Barabas put a stop to back-to-back shots from Dougoune and CSI leading scorer
Bryant Navarro, and with just outside of 30 minutes to play, he was able to parry a
Joe Bolella shot. CSI would get off another four shots from there but none could crack the scoring column.
As time dwindled down, the Dolphins continued to press, and the team would finally hit pay dirt in the 73rd minute. Bolella, who had been knocking on the door all day, was able to head in a ball directly in front of goal off of a set piece free kick taken by
Ryan Layman. From there, a stout Dolphins defense continued to constrict the field and Brooklyn was not able to muster up enough of an attack to warrant a goal as the final ultimately stood at 1-0.
CSI finished with a 19-3 advantage in shots (10-1 on goal), and garnered 10 corner kicks to just one for Brooklyn.
The Dolphins will put their perfect CUNYAC mark on the line this weekend, when they host Hunter College at 12 Noon on Saturday, October 6, at the CSI Soccer Complex. It will be highlighted as the CUNYAC Men's Soccer Game of the Week.
