PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's soccer team completed a second-half comeback, erasing a 2-0 deficit to score a come-from-behind victory in the Skyline Conference Championship semifinals against Mount Saint Vincent. The win advances the top-seeded Valiants back to the Skyline finals for the second time in three years where they will meet the No. 2 seeded Rams of Farmingdale State College.
After having their postseason runs come to an end in the last two seasons on the short end of 2-0 decisions, the Valiants found themselves trailing by the two goal margin again through 45 minutes of play against the fifth-seeded Dolphins. Goals by Ian Lamas and Oscar Billman spotted Mount Saint Vincent the 2-0 advantage as the Dolphins put two of their four shots on goal past
Luis Granados (Pasadena, Calif./St. Francis) to have the home team reeling at the end of the first half.
Despite the deficit, the Valiants held the majority of chances in the opening 45, outshooting the Dolphins 10-7 overall and putting five shots on net compared to the four by CMSV. Still, the Dolphins held the only advantage that mattered to that point—the goal differential.
Seeing the potential end to their season 45 minutes away, the Valiants returned to the pitch in the second half looking like a completely different squad. While the Dolphins were able to control the ball and pace of play in the first, the Valiants completely shut down Mount Saint Vincent as they outshot the Dolphins 18-2 in the second half.
Manhattanville finally broke through against Dolphin keeper Joel Luna ten minutes into the half.
Demba Cham (Bronx, NY/World View High School) perfectly placed a pass between a pair of Dolphins defenders to find
Trevor Henderson (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) on the doorstep who buried a shot just under the crossbar to cut the deficit to one with 35 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Valiants continued their relentless attack throughout the half as the ball remained firmly on the Dolphins' defensive side of the field. The equalizer would come in the 68
th minute as
Matt Rabadi (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) floated a ball into traffic in front of the net. The ball found the head of
Johnny Antolino (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) who knocked it towards the left of the net where Cham came charging in and put the final tap in with a header of his own to tie the game up at 2-2.
A brand new ballgame with 23 minutes to play, the Valiants refused to give up any ground as they continued to generate chance after chance in the offensive zone. With 2:31 left on the clock, a Dolphin yellow card gave the Valiants a free kick outside the left corner of the goal box. Rabadi took the kick and fired it towards net where
Michael Mezzina (Pompton Lakes, N.J./Morris Catholic) was able to deflect the ball with his right cleat over the outstretched arms of Luna to complete the comeback and punch the Valiants' ticket to Sunday's finals.
After making a pair of saves in the first half, Granados did not see any action on his side of the field for the final 45 minutes as the Dolphins' two shot attempts were off target. The senior collected his seventh win of the year and carries a 1.14 goals-against average on the season into Sunday.
Mezzina had a team-best seven shots in the contest, while Arjan Dlija added six in his 35 minutes off the bench. Cham led the way with shots on target as all four of his attempts were on the mark.
The Valiants earned all six of the corner kicks in the contest.
Up Next
The top two seeds will meet on Sunday for the title as the Valiants host No. 2 Farmingdale at noon. Tickets can be purchased now by
CLICKING HERE.
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