No. 6 Garnet Strike Early, Defeat St. Marys 1-0
ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. – Sophomore David Sterngold scored in the 10th minute and the Swat defense held homestanding St. Mary’s College to just two shots on goal as the No. 6 Swarthmore College men’s soccer team (12-1, 4-1) stepped out of Centennial Conference play to defeat the Seahawks 1-0 on Tuesday afternoon.
Senior Omari Faakye's back-heel pass set up Sterngold's early goal.
After longest road trip of the season, the Garnet showed no signs of travel fatigue, scoring within the first 10 minutes while dominating play for much of the first half.
On a free kick in the 10th minute, sophomore Micah Rose – who scored a goal on a similar scenario in Saturday's match against Ursinus – had his shot from 20-yards out blocked by the St. Mary’s wall. But sophomore Fabian Castro - who was waiting off to the right of the wall for the deflection - collected possession, passed forward to senior Omari Faakye, who flipped the ball off his back heel to Sterngold in the front of the net, who ripped it past the Seahawks' goalkeeper into the left post for his fourth goal of the season, giving Swat the early 1-0 lead.
The goal by Sterngold marked the fifth time this season that the Garnet have scored within the first 10 minutes of play.
For the first half, the Garnet finished with an 8-0 advantage in shots on goal, taking the 1-0 lead into the break.
The second half saw a spirited effort from the Seahawks (4-10), who challenged the Garnet defense on several occasions but could never get enough going in its attack to find the equalizer.
Swarthmore had a few chances to extend the lead in the final period but could not quite seal the deal. In the 67th minute, sophomore Henry Ainley beat a defender in the midfield, advanced the ball to the front of the box and found an open Sterngold, whose shot ricocheted off the goalkeeper, rolling towards the goal until a St. Mary's defender cleared it off the line. In the 88th minute, senior Dylan Langley's one-on-one breakaway opportunity was thwarted by an excellent kick save from St. Mary's goalkeeper Paul Spranklin.
For the game, Spranklin finished with a career-high 12 saves and almost single-handedly kept the Seahawks in the game. In net for the Garnet, junior captain Zach Weimar made two saves.
Swarthmore returns to action on Saturday when the Garnet host a critical Centennial Conference match against Franklin & Marshall. Action is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. and can be viewed via Garnet Live Video.