The RPI men’s soccer team kicked off its 2008 season on Friday night by overcoming an early two-goal deficit against the 12th-ranked New Jersey City Gothic Knights on Renwyck Field in the Red Hawk Classic to win by a 3-2 margin. Junior Travis Connell’s goal, with just 7.9 seconds showing on the scoreboard, brought victory to the team and gave the fans who remained through the periods of light rain an exciting ending to the match.
The Red Hawks then defeated Rhode Island College 2-0 on Saturday to complete the weekend sweep and move to a 2-0-0 record. Overall, RPI edged out Union College, who also finished 2-0-0, in the goal differential tiebreaker to win the Red Hawk Classic.
In their game against the Gothic Knights, the Red Hawks found themselves down early after senior Cristhian Acuna struck twice in the first half. In the eighth minute, Acuna dropped a shot from near the edge of the box into the top right of the goal. Then, in the 19th minute, senior Edison Bilbao hit Acuna with a pass on a breakaway. Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Penny stopped the initial shot, but Bilbao found the back of the net on the rebound to give the Gothic Knights a 2-0 lead.
“I just think we were a little tentative when we started, and they were very good for the first 15 to 20 minutes,” explained Head Coach Adam Clinton.
The Red Hawks were not done. In the 24th minute, junior John Bernal of the Gothic Knights was issued a yellow card in his own penalty box for a foul against junior Lincoln Field. On the ensuing penalty kick, Field beat New Jersey City goalie Andre Viola with a shot to the left on the ground, bringing the Red Hawks within a goal.
In the 69th minute, sophomore Blake Adams found junior Kevin Swift in the box on a free kick. Swift deposited the ball into the goal with a header, knotting the game at two, and setting the stage for Connell’s game-winning goal.
Following a corner kick taken by Adams with under 30 seconds to play that was initially cleared, freshman Andrew Tambasco fired off a shot that was blocked by Viola. Connell blasted the rebound into the back of the net with under eight seconds to play to win the game for the Red Hawks.
“The field opened up for him and he made a run forward,” explained Clinton.
“He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
Penny made six saves for the Red Hawks in the win while Viola made three for the Gothic Knights.
“It was a great, great victory,” Clinton stated. Of New Jersey City, the coach said: “They’re a legitimate team. They went to the sweet 16 in the tournament last year.” He noted that the win “gives us some confidence.”
Speaking on the two-goal deficit that the Red Hawks battled back from, Clinton said, “They’re never going to quit, ever. I think that was huge. Soccer is a long game—90 minutes is a long time. I mean, you give up two goals in 20 minutes, you still have 70 left. That’s a lot of time.”
“We were never out of it. The third goal is always the key goal. It’s either three-nothing or 2-1, and once we got it to 2-1. We knew we were in the game, and that changed everything.”
The next day, RPI faced the Rhode Island College Anchormen in its second game of the Red Hawk Classic. Adams opened the scoring with a spectacular goal on a direct kick in the 41st minute following a foul just outside the Rhode Island College box. The Anchormen defense had set up a wall, but that did not stop Adams from beating goalkeeper Justin O’Connor by hooking the shot and placing the ball high in the goal inside the far post.
“Blake’s goal today was phenomenal; it was world-class,” exclaimed Clinton. “He came to me on Thursday and said, ‘Coach, we were working on free kicks.’ He said, ‘Coach, I spent all summer working on these free kicks and hitting them. I can hit them.’”
“He put his money where his mouth was today … It was a fantastic goal.”
The Red Hawks would strike again in the 73rd minute. From near the goal line on the left, Tambasco got the ball to sophomore Bryce Hutchinson right in front of the goal. Hutchinson buried the shot in the back of the net to give RPI a 2-0 advantage and close out the scoring for the match.
The Anchormen did not challenge Penny often, but the Red Hawk goalkeeper stopped the shots when he had to, making two saves, including a deflection over the crossbar on a shot in the 77th minute.
“He played really, really well, and we’re happy with that,” Clinton said of Penny’s play in goal over the weekend.
The head coach also recognized the fans in attendance at the weekends matches. “I thought the atmosphere at both games was fantastic.”
Clinton stated, “The more people we can get out there on those hills, the better off we’re going to be. It makes it a tough place to come and play, and we face that when we go other places.”
“If we can build that kind of atmosphere here, that would be great.”
The Red Hawks will look to build on the momentum from the season-opening victories as they compete in the Union Classic in Schenectady, N.Y., next weekend with a pair of games. On Friday afternoon, RPI takes on John Jay College, which stands at 0-1-0. The Red Hawks and Worcester State College will meet on Saturday.
Clinton explained, “This is a good group. I like where we’re at right now. We have a lot of work to do, we have a lot of room for improvement; but I like where we’re at right now.”
