Men’s Soccer 1-2 on the Week

Frostburg men’s soccer started their three-game week strong with a 1-0 win against the Wheeling University Cardinals on Sunday, Oct. 20th. The Bobcats had three corner kicks in the first four minutes of the game and a shot by junior Randy Putnam in the sixth minute to put pressure on the Cardinals early. First-year midfielder Addison Keja also had a chance in the first half after first-year Louie Kerdock played a corner and Keja drove a shot in toward the goal off of his right foot. The shot sent Wheeling’s goalkeeper diving right to make a save. The Frostburg goal came from senior Blake Geatz in the 63^rdminute. Geatz received a pass from Putnam on the right side of the penalty area and put the shot in the back of the net to put the Bobcats up 1-0. The Cardinals almost tied the game in the 86^thminute when Wheeling had a scoring chance that forced sophomore keeper Joel Assal off his line to make a sliding save and then an immediate save off of a rebound shot. Assal and the Bobcats were able to keep the match scoreless to come out with a 1-0 win.

The men continued their conference play against West Liberty at home on Wednesday, Oct. 23^rd. Frostburg had two scoring chances in the first four minutes. The first came from Geatz with a header towards goal from inside the 6-yard box that forced the West Liberty goalkeeper to make a save. The second chance came a few seconds later from senior Alla Tesfu with a header that went just wide of the goal. West Liberty scored first after Mikel Ubeda connected on a high shot to put the Hilltoppers up 1-0 in the 11^thminute. Frostburg’s first goal came in the 26^thminute via a penalty kick taken by sophomore Jose Rodriguez. Rodriguez was able to place the shot just inside the left post and past the diving West Liberty keeper. Two minutes later, Putnam found a loose ball inside the 18 and fired a shot to the right corner of the net for a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, the Hilltoppers responded with two more goals to make the score 2-3 at the end of the first half. The second half opened with another goal from West Liberty less than five minutes after the start. Assal made six saves in the game, including two diving saves in the first half and a diving save in the last few minutes of the game to keep the Hilltoppers from scoring any more goals. The game finished with West Liberty leading 4-2, with 17 shots and 10 shots on goal while Frostburg followed right behind with 13 shots and 9 shots on goal.

Frostburg finished out their week with another home game on Saturday, October 26^thagainst the Notre Dame Falcons. The first half was a back and forth match with throw-ins, free kicks, goals kicks, and multiple blocked shots from both teams. The Falcons attempted two shots in the early minutes of the game, but both were blocked by the Bobcats. First-year Tamino Brown attempted a shot at 10:20 but it was blocked by the Falcons. Notre Dame attempted six more shots during the first half before Frostburg’s Brown and Tesfu attempted two more. Despite all the chances, the first half ended scoreless. The second half saw the Falcons score within the first minute when Nicholas Felician found the back of the net after taking a low shot to the left side of the goal. The Falcons then attempted two more shots before Kerdock took a shot in the 62^ndminute and Putnam missed wide right. Assal faced 17 shots and made 5 saves during his 90 minutes of action.

Frostburg is now 6-8-1 overall and 5-7-1 in the MEC. They return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 30^thwhen they travel to take on the Urbana University Blue Knights in Ohio at 6:30 p.m.