A pair of goals in a span of 1:27 gave Hunter College all the scoring it needed, in a 2-1 men’s soccer win over the College of Staten Island in a CUNYAC game played yesterday afternoon at Randall’s Island. The loss dipped the Dolphins to 1-8 overall and 1-1 within the CUNYAC, while Hunter improved to 1-5-1, 1-1, respectively.
In what turned out to be a physical games laced with heavy fouling and a total of eight yellow and red cards distributed, Hunter got on the board with a pair of goals midway through the first stanza spanning just over a minute. At the 20:46 mark, Mauro Ortiz punched in a loose ball in front of the net off of a loose-ball rebound. The goal gave the home team a 1-0 lead. Reeling, CSI was caught out of position at the 22:13 mark, this time when a Mario Baez pass found the boot of Aykut Can, who powered the Hawks’ second goal passed CSI keeper Andrew Brown, giving Hunter a 2-0 advantage.
From there, play stayed deadlocked at 2-0, while bookings ensued. Andriy Sudak was hit first with a yellow card at 24:57, and then before the first half came to a close, Hunter’s Mario Rojas was tagged with a yellow booking of his own.
Play intensified in the second half. Outshot 12-0 (8-0 on goal) in the first half, CSI was determined to equalize and hit paydirt at the 63:45 mark when Ahmed Elghareib banked in his first career goal passed Hunter keeper Murtaza Munir, who had actually replaced Alexandre Ilic in net just minutes before.
The Dolphins failed to harness the momentum, however, as Sudak was hit with a red card just 17 seconds after the goal and CSI had to play the rest of the game one player short. Seven minutes later, Can of the Hawks was carded, and at the 80:00 mark, Hanzah Kwanor was booked with a yellow as well. Finally, with just 2:45 left, a serious and rough play send three players off with immediate red cards. Hit with the reds were Hunter’s Ortiz and Luis Palomo, while CSI’s Babatunde Adekanbi was also sent off, making it a 9-on-9 game for the final 2+ minutes. The Hawks, however, were able to hang on to the 2-1 win in a game that they dominated offensively.
CSI was outshot, 22-5 (11-2 on goal), and Hunter earned a 9-1 advantage in corner kick attempts. CSI committed a total of 22 fouls to HC’s 15.
CSI’s next contest will take place on Saturday, September 26, when the Dolphins host the New York City College of Technology at 3pm. It will be the second game of a doubleheader, which features the women’s team against Purchase State, beginning at 1pm.