Late Goals Give No. 4/5 Garnet Men 3-1 Victory Over Dickinson
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Another game, another milestone for senior Morgan Langley - and another important early-season Centennial Conference victory for the red-hot Swarthmore College men's soccer team (8-0, 2-0).
Junior David Sterngold scored the game-winning goal thanks to another record-breaking assist from Langley in the 87th minute, while Langley added the final nail in the coffin with a breakaway goal two minutes later as the No. 4/5 Garnet (8-0, 2-0) defeated the Red Devils 3-1 on Saturday evening in front of a large and boisterous crowd at Clothier Field Stadium.
With his ninth assist of the season, Langley - the NCAA Division III leader in assists and assist-per-game - breaks the all-time Swarthmore single-season record just eight games into the 2010 season.
Castro scored the Garnet's first goal in the 20th minute.
Junior Fabian Castro added the Garnet's first goal of the game on a header in the 20th minute, while junior Micah Rose and freshman Noah Sterngold added assists for the Garnet.
With previous career assists leader Len Cuello '95 on hand as the Garnet's honorary coach, current record holder Langley showed the crowd at Clothier Field why he now sits atop the record book with a picture-perfect set-up in the final minutes to defeat the Red Devils. With the seconds ticking away, the speedy Langley dribbled left towards the end line and drew two Dickinson defenders. As the defense collapsed, Langley split the defense to find a wide-open Sterngold inside the box. Sterngold blasted the ball into the upper-right corner for his third game-winning goal of the season, giving the Garnet a 2-1 lead.
Just two minutes later, Langley dashed any thoughts of a Red Devil comeback with a breakaway goal that brought the crowd of over 600 at the Stadium to a deafening roar. With the entire Dickinson squad pressing for a goal, Rose forced a turnover in the midfield and flicked the ball over a crowd of Red Devils to find a streaking Langley. From there, Langley dribbled around Dickinson goalkeeper Cody Hickok and placed the ball into the net for his team-leading sixth goal of the season, sealing the game for Swat.
Ahead 1-0 heading into the second half thanks to Castro's goal, Dickinson tied the game up in the 51st thanks to a goal from Thomas Parkinson off a Dickinson free kick. During the free kick, the ball bounced off the head of a Swarthmore defender into the direction of goalkeeper David D'Annunzio. Following contact from a Red Devil, D'Annunzio dropped the ball into the front of the net, where Parkinson was waiting capitalize, making it a 1-1 game.
In the ensuring 10 minutes, the Garnet attack put pressure on the Dickinson goal, only to come up inches short of taking the lead. In the 54th minute, both senior Gage Newman and sophomore John Pontillo had point-blank shots saved by Hickok, while it was more of the same in the 58th minute, as Sterngold hit the top post and Newman had another shot denied. The score remained 1-1 until Sterngold's game-winner in the 87th minute.
The Garnet defense was up to task all night, limiting a potent Red Devil offense to just two shots on goal. In net, D'Annunzio finished with one save.
For Dickinson, Hickok was superb between the pipes, keeping the Red Devils in the game with five saves.
Swarthmore finished the game with an 18-8 edge in shots and 7-1 in shots on goal.
With the victory over Dickinson, the Garnet has now opened up Centennial Conference play by defeating both participants in the 2009 Conference Championship game (Johns Hopkins is the other).
Swarthmore hits the road when it returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to Washington College. Action is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.
VIDEO: Langley and Garnet crowd celebrate his final-minute goal.