Men’s soccer continues to go undefeated away
The Carnegie Mellon men’s soccer team went into a double overtime last Wednesday against Washington & Jefferson University Presidents, ending 0–0 after nearly three hours of play. The former 16th-ranked Tartans fought hard, but were unable to capitalize on their scoring chances. Carnegie Mellon wrapped up this weekend’s play with wins against Muskingum College, 3–2, and Franciscan University, 4–1. The team improves its record to 3–0–1.
For new head coach Arron Lujan and assistant coach Mike Piranian, Wednesday’s tie is disappointing but not a game to dwell on. “It was hard fought,” Lujan said. “But, I thought we had more chances and in the end we should have put it away.”
On the team’s performance, Piranian added, “We went out there to win, but more or less we needed the aggression and speed of play to pick up.”
Both coaches agreed that W&J is a decent team and that the evening’s tie was not a bad result.
The entire game was exciting and fast-paced, with many attacking opportunities from junior forward Ricky Griffin and first-year midfielder Bradley Edelman.
When the clock hit zero, both the Tartans and the Presidents remained without goals, resulting in a 15-minute overtime. The two overtime periods ended in a tie.
“It was a hard-fought battle. We brought forth a good game,” said junior defender David Drochner. “We were disappointed with the result, but now we’ll focus on the next game.”
The Tartans were able to redeem themselves in Saturday’s game by recording a win at the “Fuzzy” Williams Memorial Soccer Tournament in West Virginia against Muskingum.
Initially behind 0–1 after a Muskingum goal in the 28th minute, Carnegie Mellon immediately evened the score with a goal from junior forward Pat Lutz, assisted by junior Austin Good. Keith Haselhoff, with an assist by Griffin, and senior Dan Brackley shot the winning goals to give the Tartans a win.
The second day of the tournament yielded even more excitement as Carnegie Mellon took on Franciscan in the finals of the Bethany Tournament.
The Tartans rallied together to outshoot the Barons in the 4–1 victory. Griffin led the team to the exciting win with all four goals, assisted twice each by junior midfielders Ryan Browne and Jonathan Simon.
“We had lots of chances offensively and defensively, and everyone played solid throughout the match,” Griffin said. “I thought it was a great team effort, and coming from a long game yesterday, it was a great result.”
The team next competes Saturday at home in Gesling Stadium against Juniata College. The game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. under the lights.