EVANSVILLE, Ind. - In the first round of the ProRehab Aces Classic on Friday night, the Marist men's soccer team (3-1) defeated the host Evansville Aces (1-2) by a score of 1-0. The combination of grad student Steve Skonieczny's shutout and junior Stephan Brossard's game-winning goal led the Red Foxes to victory.
Marist got off to quick start on offense as Brossard (Port Washington, N.Y.) was able to take a shot towards Evansville's net in the fourth minute. After a few minutes of back and forth play, the junior forward was back at it on the offensive end, as he took in a pass from senior Troy Confessore (Kendall Park, N.J.) from the right side and fired in a shot past Evansville's keeper to give the team a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. This would be a sign of good things to come, as Brossard had netted goals in each of Marist's prior two wins.
Over the next 34 minutes of the first half, Evansville attempted to jump start their offense and nearly succeeded in tying the game as the Aces took five shots, though only one on goal, a Tad Kreamaimeyer shot that Skonieczny (LaGrangeville, N.Y.) saved in the 27th minute.
Coming out in the second half, Evansville kept the pressure on Marist's defense with numerous strong offensive possesions, including three shots in the first seven minutes. Skonieczny made saves on both of Aaron Henkle and Zach Byrd's shots on goal.
Not looking to rest on their one goal lead, the Red Foxes responded with shots by Brossard and senior Lucas Szabo (Bethesda, Md.) in a eight minute stretch of action from the 54th minute to the 62nd minute.
Skonieczny finished off the shutout victory for the Red Foxes with three more saves, including a shot by Peter May in the 88th minute. He completed the match with six saves. This was Marist's first shutout in eight games, going back to last Oct. 24 versus Manhattan.
For the game, Evansville outshot Marist by a count of 14-10, with 6-4 advantage in shots on goal for the Aces.
After the match head coach Matt Viggiano remarked about the great job his team and specifically his keeper Skoeniczny did "Steve was without a doubt the man of the match, he came up with huge saves throughout the game. I'm really happy that he was able to get this shutout."
"We really gutted out this win; on the offensive side of the ball, we had a number of quality opportunities, but just didn't finish as good as we could've. The team showed a lot of character" said Viggiano in breaking down his squad's performance. "To travel out to the Midwest and beat a historic program like Evansville in their home opener is a great win for our team."
Coupling this victory with SIU-Edwardsville's 3-1 win over Eastern Illinois in the opening game makes Sunday's 1 p.m. matchup between the two squads be for the ProRehab Aces Classic title.
