Frostburg Men’s Soccer Beats Salem 2-1 at Home

Frostburg State men’s soccer went 1-1 this week to improve their overall record to 4-6-1, while their conference record dropped to 3-5-1. The Bobcats played on Wednesday, Oct. 9^that home against the other Bobcats in the conference: West Virginia Wesleyan College. Frostburg had three solid chances in the first half coming from senior Blake Geatz, junior Bobby Riffle, and first-year Lovet Cheg. In the 34^thminute, Geatz headed a high ball from a throw-in towards the goal that sent Wesleyan keeper Jeremy Collins jumping to make a save. In the 38^thminute, Riffle sent a header to the left of the goal and in the 41^stminute, Cheg had a diving header from a free-kick that sent Collins running to make a save. Wesleyan had five chances in the first half and was able to capitalize on one of them in the 41^stminute off a free-kick that was sent to the top right corner. Despite being down 0-1 at half time, Frostburg came out with high intensity, posting three more shots in the 48^th, 50^th, and 55^thminute. Sophomore keeper Joel Assal stopped a low shot from Wesleyan in the 61^stminute and made an acrobatic save to deflect the ball in the 72^ndminute. Assal finished the match with five saves. Unfortunately, Frostburg was not able to finish any attacks and the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats walked away with the win.

Frostburg played at home again on Saturday, October 12^thagainst out of conference team Salem University. Junior Youness Benmouna led the Bobcats with six shots, four shots on goal, and two goals. Geatz took a shot toward the bottom right corner of the goal in the 14^thminute, but it was saved by Salem keeper Luis Ramirez. Geatz took another shot off a corner kick in the 24^thminute, but it was again saved by Ramirez. Benmouna and sophomore Cameron Coates both took a shot in the 30^thminute but were unsuccessful in converting as Ramirez blocked both opportunities. In the 42^ndminute, Salem was able to convert a chance to finish out the first half leading 1-0. Frostburg came out strong and was able to equalize the score with a goal from Benmouna in the 52^ndminute. His goal was assisted by junior Randy Putnam. In the 65^thminute, the Bobcats were able to take the lead with another goal from Benmouna, this time assisted by first-year Fabian Valenzuela. The Bobcats didn’t let up and had three more shots on goal, but all were denied by Ramirez. Frostburg outshot their opponents 15-11 with six of those shots on goal. Assal had three saves during the game.

The Bobcats continue their conference play on Thursday, Oct. 17^that 2 p.m. at home against Concord.