Seniors Keston George (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/Victory Christian Academy) and Daniel Carlryd (Gothenburg, Sweden/LM Engstrom) combined to score three times as the Manhattanville men's soccer team defeated Wilkes by the score of 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
The scoring first began when George drew the goalkeeper towards him near the right post and passed it to the top of the eight-yard box to a waiting Carlryd who chipped the ball into the goal to give Manhattanville the 1-0 lead 15:53 into the contest. The Valiants held onto the lead for the remaining 30 minutes of the half before the halftime break.
After the intermission Manhattanville got right back to work when 7:14 into the period. George and Carlryd switched roles after a tip pass from fellow senior Adam Kent (London, England/Sutton Grammar) went to Carlryd, who then quickly sent a through ball to George who walked it into the goal and lifted it over a diving Patrick Loube.
Wilkes did not go down without a fight, however, when they struck less than five minutes later after a soft dribbling header snuck between the left post and Manhattanville graduate goalkeeper Jason Torres (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) to cut the lead in half.
At the 65:22 mark Kent had a great opportunity to score after beating his defensive counterpart and had only the goalie to beat, but put the point blank shot right into the stomach of the goalkeeper for the save. Eight minutes later, however, the Valiants got the insurance goal for the 3-1 lead when Carlryd was pulled down as he passed the ball into the middle of the field to George, who placed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal.
Wilkes was resilient once again when less than three minutes later Michael Turner took a sharp angle shot and was able to keep the ball inside the post for the goal as he trimmed the lead to 3-2. But the Valiants defense took control over the final 30 minutes of the game holding the Colonels to just two shots.
In goal for Manhattanville, Torres picked up his ninth win of the season against three losses while making a pair of saves. For the Colonels, Patrick Loube took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season while making seven saves along the way.
In terms of shots the Valiants were well in the lead with a 24-8 margin, with 17 shots coming in the second half. Shots on goal were also in favor of Manhattanville with a 10-4 differential, George led the way with eight shots with six on target.
Manhattanville was also in total control of corner kicks as they had 10 more opportunities than their opponent at 12-2.
Manhattanville (11-3, 3-1 Freedom) will return to the pitch on the road at Delaware Valley on Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Wilkes (5-8, 1-3 Freedom) will also continue conference play when they return home to take on crosstown rival King's (Pa.) at 7:00 p.m.