Garnet, Pride Win on Day One of Garnet Alumni Classic
SWARTHMORE - DELAWARE VALLEY BOX SCORE
SWARTHMORE, P.A. - Widener earned a thrilling overtime win in the afternoon game and Swarthmore tied a school record for goals under the lights in an exciting first day of the 10th annual Garnet Alumni Classic.
The Widener Pride (1-0) withstood the physical play of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (0-1), defeating the Kings Point Mariners 1-0 in overtime. After 90 minutes of hard-fought play with only 15 combined shots and three yellow cards, the action opened up in overtime. Just 1:38 into the extra session, Pride junior Doug Gabel found a soft spot in the USMMA defense, received a pretty through ball from Justin McCall (who had just taken a Justin Jeff Hurlock feed), and put home the game-winner.
Widener sophomore goalkeeper Marty Squicciarini made six saves to earn the hard-fought victory; Preston Stokes made one stop for the Kings Point Mariners.
In the night cap, Swarthmore (1-0) came out firing and did not let up through a first half which saw them take a staggering 23 shots. Junior forward Ladule Lako Lo Sarah got the Garnet on the board just 6:03 into the contest, taking control of the ball 10 yards out, spinning, and firing it into the near corner of the net. The junior nearly added a second tally a few minutes later, but his attempt found the crossbar. Lo Sarah displayed impressive aggressiveness throughout the half and finished with five shots.
The Garnet continued to pelt Aggie goalkeeper Nick D'Amato with attempts. Senior Andrew Macurdy played some of the finest 45 minutes of his collegiate soccer career, battling hard in the midfield and nearly scoring on two occasions. Juniors Evan Nesterak, Stu Leon, and Yoi Tibbetts also got off to fast starts, controlling play in the offensive zone and combining for six shots.
With 10:58 on the clock, Garnet freshman Toby Resch entered the game, and with 10:32 showing, Resch was celebrating his first collegiate goal. The freshman took control of a blocked Lo Sarah shot and wasted no time in firing the ball home from 15 yards out. Garnet senior netminder Ryan Sutcliffe had no trouble with his only save attempt of the half, and the Garnet went into the break with a 2-0 advantage.
Swarthmore kept up the intensity in the second half, wore down the Aggie defense, and found the net eight more times. Lo Sarah notched his second tally 11 minutes into the half off of a spectacular sliding feed from senior captain Pat Christmas. 13 more minutes passed before the Garnet reeled off seven goals in 11:09. Freire scored three times to earn his first collegiate hat trick, and freshman Morgan Langley had two goals and two assists. Tibbetts and freshman Philippe Celestin added a goal each, and Leon assisted on a pair of goals.
Garnet sophomore Zach Weimar played the first 34:54 of the period in net, making one stop, and junior Jason Thrope did not to make a save over the final 10:06. Swarthmore finished with a 44-3 shot advantage and a 7-0 edge in corner kicks. D'Amato made eight saves in net for the Aggies (0-1).
The 10 goals scored matches the all-time single-game Swarthmore record, equaling three other 10-goal performances, the last of which came vs. Ursinus in 1951. Swarthmore's last 10-goal winning margin came against the same Bears in 1950.
Swarthmore will look to keep up the intensity in tomorrow's 3:00 p.m. match against the Kings Point Mariners. Following the Swarthmore-USMMA match, Widener will take on Delaware Valley in the Garnet Classic finale.