The men’s soccer team suffered a pair of bitter defeats this weekend at the Union Classic, dropping their record to 0-3.
On Sunday, the Red Hawks went up against the Blue Knights of Mount Saint Mary.
The first half was a tough battle, with the teams exchanging one goal apiece. Rensselaer’s Mike Greco struck first, putting a shot past Bill Tate of the Blue Knights for the Red Hawks’ first goal of the year. Mount Saint Mary tied the game later in the period on a goal by Rory Whalley.
After the break, RPI came out strong, keeping the ball in the Blue Knights’ half of the field for most of the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, although they got many good looks at the goal, they could not connect for a score. One shot deflected off of the post, and another hit the crossbar and bounced back out. At one point, the ball rolled in front of an empty Mount Saint Mary net, but the Red Hawks were unable to get a man close enough to tap the ball in.
The Blue Knights did not get near the RPI goal very often, but they were able to connect early in the half when RPI Goalie Marc Salmin slipped on the dirt in front of the net.
As the minutes ticked off the clock near the end of the game, a sense of futility began to settle over the field. The Red Hawks continued to play hard, driving to the Mount Saint Mary goal again and again, but no shots would fall, and Rensselaer went down by a score of 2-1.
The previous day was another exercise in frustration, as the Red Hawks were again unable to buy a goal. Though Salmin performed very well, making 11 saves on the day, the one ball that got past him proved to be too much for the Rensselaer offense to overcome, and MIT won that game 1-0.
So far this season, the Red Hawks have managed to keep their games close—their three losses so far have been by a total of four goals. Unfortunately, they have been able to score only once in those three games, and unless the offense can start converting the opportunities it creates into goals, this will be a very bleak season for the team.
