Sophomore Keston George (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago) scored the lone goal in the second half to give the Manhattanville men’s soccer team a 1-0 victory over reigning Freedom Conference champion Misericordia University in both team’s 2009 conference opener on Saturday afternoon at Mangelsdorf Stadium.
The Valiants quickly went on the attack against the Cougars, blistering eight shots in the first half-hour of play. In the 10th and 20th minute of play Manhattanville had their best opportunities to score. George was credited with the only shot on goal in the first half, 9:20 into the contest. Junior Sebastian Chica (Port Chester, N.Y.) had the second chance to score as he hit the crossbar; however, the Cougars were able to clear the defensive zone. Manhattanville finished the half attempting two more shots, both wide by freshman Marco Blasetti (Yonkers, N.Y.) and junior Kenneil Haye (Queens, N.Y.).
The red and white continued to keep the pressure in the Cougars’ defensive zone to start the second half, taking four shots in the first 10 minutes. Only the Haye shot was on-target, but freshman J.P. Arenas (White Plains, N.Y.) got his shot blocked by a defender en route to the cage.
Misericordia midfielder Kevin Nagle took his team’s only shot on goal in the contest, 2:19 into the second half, but junior Jason Torres (Harrison, N.Y.) made a great save to keep the game scoreless.
Sophomore Daniel Carlryd (Gothenburg, Sweden) tried to give the Valiants a 2-0 lead shortly after George’s match-winning strike, only to be stopped by Cougars goalie Andrew Lloyd.
Manhattanville was clearly the aggressor against last season’s conference titlists, outshooting Misericordia by a 23-7 margin in the contest, as well as possessing a 5-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Manhattanville (5-4, 1-0 Freedom) will get little rest as the Valiants will host non-conference Baruch College on Monday at 5 p.m. at GoValiants.com Field. Misericordia (4-4-2, 0-1 Freedom) will have a week off until the Cougars travel to FDU-Florham next Saturday.