PURCHASE, N.Y. - Despite outshooting their counterparts in the contest, the Manhattanville University men's soccer team was defeated by visiting New Jersey City, 2-1, for the Valiants 2024 home opener. With the result, Manhattanville slips to 0-2-1 on the young season.
The Gothic Knights opened the scoring early in the contest, rippling the net just five minutes after the whistle blew, as Thiago Duarte found the back netting for the 1-0 lead. Manhattanville found themselves with a prime opportunity to level the score, when a foul in the box resulted in a penalty shot for the Valiants, but NJCU netminder Dominic Cunha stood tall on his line parrying away the shot from twelve yards.
Although the Valiants paced the Gothic Knights in the shooting department, 6-4, NJCU held onto the early lead into the halftime break.
In the second half, New Jersey City built on their lead ten minutes into play, as Emmanuel Atorkui finished off a pass from Kevin Alves, putting NJCU ahead, 2-0. Manhattanville continued to pepper the freshman goaltender with eleven shots, three of which were within the frame of the net.
Despite spending most of the second stanza in their half of the pitch, NJCU clamped down in the defensive third, turning away every build up play produced by the Valiants. Manhattanville would net themselves a consolation goal with just over ten seconds remaining, as Mason Chetti (Ronkonoma, N.Y./Connetquot) was played a ball on the right side of the box by Alec Pineda (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester), chipping it over the sliding keeper to pin the contest at 2-1 when the full-time whistle blew.
The Valiants finished with a 17-10 shot advantage, putting six balls on net. Chetti finished with a team-high two shots on target in his 45 minutes off the bench. Jostyn Blanco (Norwalk, Conn./Brien Mcmahon High School), Griffin Van Cott (Goshen, N.Y./Goshen), Keanu Stingone (Kew Gardens, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy), and Pineda all rounded out the offensive output with one shot-on-goal apiece.
Jake Rothluebbers (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union High School) strapped on the gloves for Manhattanville in the contest, turning away three shots in the ninety minutes played.
Manhattanville held the corner kick advantage, 7-1.
Up Next
The Valiants welcome in Hunter on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 12:00 pm to kick off a Valiant soccer doubleheader.
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