Photo Courtesy: Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Michael Dalton
The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team defeated Siena 3-2 at home on Wednesday.
Quinnipiac extended its winning streak to six, despite the absence of midfielders James Doig, Shaquille Huggins, and Max Rothenbuecher.
“Whether James is out, Shaq is out or Max is out, another guy steps in. Today it was Evan Hughes and Matt Taylor at midfield.” Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa said. “They did their jobs, and we were able to get the result.”
The Bobcats started off strong with an unassisted goal from sophomore forward, Rashawn Dally, just eight minutes into the game. Dally scored by using his speed to outrun a Siena defender and eventually shot the ball top shelf past Siena’s goalkeeper, Aleksa Radosavljevic. Dally has now scored two goals in the past four matches.
“(Rashawn) is physical presence. He’s a fast, big guy, who draws a lot of attention. When he uses his speed, he beats people, and I’m just there to finish.” Freshman forward Eamon Whelan said, who had two goals in the game, both via penalty kick.
About 25 minutes into the first half Siena tied things up when when junior forward, Alexander Tejera, scored on a pass from the right side of the penalty box by Tommaso Centemero.
With just over a minute to go in the half, the Bobcats were awarded a penalty kick due to a handball. Whelan took it, and scored his ninth goal of the season.
At the start of the second half, Quinnipiac came out as the more aggressive team, controlling the ball for the majority of the first five minutes.
The Bobcats best chance came when forward Ryan Scheiderman stole the ball from a Siena defender, and crossed the ball to an open Filosmar Cordeiro, who was sprinting down the field. Radosavljevic and Cordeiro collided with each other, and both players were slow to get up. Radosavljevic was able to stay in the game, while Cordeiro was taken out of the game with what seemed to be an injury to his lower body. Due to the collision, the Bobcats were awarded another penalty kick, this time for goalkeeper interference.
This wasn’t the first collision of the game. Overall, Quinnipiac and Siena played a physical game, even though there were many non-calls.
“I think the players handled themselves really well, despite the fact that a lot of things were going uncalled.” Da Costa said. “Two teams playing aggressively and competing, trying to win the game. I thought both teams played clean.”
Quinnipiac junior defender/forward, William Pustari, was involved in several fouls and collisions throughout the course of the match. Most notably when he received a yellow card for taking down Siena midfielder, J.C. Obregon.
“(Pustari) is an aggressive player by nature. One thing that he’s proven to be over the course of his time with us is he’s versatile.” Da Costa said. “He’s able to play in a lot of different roles, and we use him in a lot of different roles.”
Siena was able to pull within one goal when Tejera scored his second goal, also a penalty kick. However, it was too little too late.
Quinnipac’s next game won’t be until Oct. 26 at Saint Peter’s. The next home game for the men’s soccer team will be against Rider on Oct. 29.
