POUGHKEEPSIE, New York - The Marist men's soccer team got off to a hot start, scoring three goals in the first half and adding one more in the second as they defeated the Howard Bison 4-0 in their home opener at Tenney Stadium on Saturday evening.
The result improves the Red Foxes to 3-2 on the season, as the Bison fall to 0-2-2.
Junior forward
Stefan Copetti, freshman forward
Richard Morel, graduate forward
Justin Jaime, and graduate defender
Huib Achterkamp each tallied goals in Marist's largest offensive output of 2021. Marist dominated on both ends of the field, as it outshot the Bison 16-6.
The Red Fox keepers combined to make two saves on the evening, both from junior
Dylan McDermott, who came off the bench in the 63rd minute.
Duncan Dunkwu paced Howard with two shots. Emery Simon made three saves in net.
- The Red Foxes were active early, with five corner kicks and six shots in the first 12:19 of the game.
- Marist struck first with 21 minutes remaining in the first half, as Copetti scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Conway and graduate forward Kyle Galloway.
- Five minutes later, Copetti fired off another shot. This one was redirected by Simon in net, and Morel finished off the rebound.Â
- With nine-and-a-half minutes remaining in the stanza, Jamie took on two Howard defenders and ripped a shot into the back of the net from the left side.
- That would stake Marist to a 3-0 advantage heading into the break.
- Dunkwu fired off the Bison's second shot of the period in the 40th minute.
- Both sides tightened up after halftime, with the first shot of the frame arriving in the 63rd minute.
- Morel looked for the brace, but his rip at the top of the box pinged off the left woodwork.
- In the 73rd minute, the Red Foxes got their fourth and final goal as Achterkamp drove home a loose ball. Junior midfielder Joe Mac placed a corner kick into the box, and Simon couldn't cleanly clear, leaving the co-captain to find the nylon.
- McDermott made the first save for Marist in the 79th minute, denying Jackson Lewis' attempt from the left corner.
- Howard tried to avoid the shutout in the final seconds, but Abdullah Aljirafi's shot from inside the 18 was smothered by McDermott.
- In addition to the 16-6 advantage in shots, Marist had seven shots on net to Howard's two.
- Nine Red Foxes had a shot, and five on goal.
- The Red Foxes won the possession battle with 55 percent. Sixty-eight percent of Marist's time with the ball was in the attacking half.
- In total, Marist had eight corners, doubling up the Bison's four.
- Marist emptied its bench, playing 24 total Red Foxes in the 90 minutes.
- Morel is the first Red Fox freshman to score his first goal since teammate Antek Sienkiel did so against Fairfield on October 16th, 2019.
- Achterkamp now has the team lead with two goals this year. His tally was just the second non-penalty kick in his Marist tenure.
- Copetti scored for the first time since November 14th, 2019 in the MAAC Semifinals, while Jaime lit the lamp for the first time since the MAAC Quarterfinals four days earlier.
- The Red Foxes have now won two consecutive home openers, and four of their last five.
- Saturday marked the most goals for Marist since it capped the 2019 regular season with a 6-0 win over Canisius.
- The Red Foxes are now 2-1 all-time against Howard, and have outscored the Bison 7-0 in Poughkeepsie in two matches.
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"I'm overall pleased with the performance. It was nice to come out tonight and get some goals. The guys deserved it; we've worked hard and played a tough schedule. Tonight, we felt like if we played to our capabilities, then we would find some success. I'm just glad that they finally broke through. A Division I win is a Division I win, so we'll take it, move on, and get ready for New Hampshire on Tuesday night." - Head Coach Matt Viggiano
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- Marist welcomes New Hampshire to the bank of the Hudson River on Tuesday, September 14th at 7 p.m.
