Box Score Salem,WV - October 10th – Monday, on a sunny but cold day in North-Central West Virginia, the Salem International University Men's Soccer Team hosted Seton Hill University. The Catalano Stadium's grass pitch was still a little bit sloppy from all the rain we have had this weekend but it did not affect the play too much.
The Tigers' internationally diverse starting line-up (feel free to check the roster makeup on the website…) for this contest was:
Dom Gillespie in goal;
James Cockshott,
Ricardo Reyes, Jan Deters, and
Amon Tarus in defense; in the midfield were
Fabricio Costa, Christian Philipps,
Josh Gomez,
Emilio Marti, and
Marcelo Pacheco; with
Lucas Coelho as the lone striker. Substitutes who played and contributed to the positive outcome of this match were:
Vitor Teixeria, Mateo Gutierrez, Danny Carnalla, Jacob Kemlock, Mohamed Ali Khalaf, Finn Rohland and Kristian Sulbaran. Curtis Ketchup, Leonardo Souza De Meo, Vinicius Charafeddine, Leonardo Figueiredo, Brett Garris, Ali Mozafari and
Leonce Nzele Djague were on the bench but did not play.
Both Teams started well but throughout the first half nobody was able to break down the defenses and no goalkeeper had to make a save. 5 minutes into the second half and a cross from the right side of the field into the Salem box by Tom Urquhart of Seton Hill found teammate Curtis Gallagher for a free header at the back post, and it was 0-1.
The Salem Tigers were trailing but this was the wakeup call they needed to start playing and coming together. The Tigers were dominating and you could feel a goal was coming, from the positive attitude of the players and the support of the bleachers. On the 74
th minute the Seton hill goalkeeper misjudged a long ball coming into the box and
Emilio Marti (Madrid, Spain/IES Colmenarejo) who never gave up on that play, put the ball across the box for
Mohamed Ali Khalaf (Jabriya, Kutwait/ Jabriya Indian School) who cushioned the ball for
Mateo Gutierrez (Ibague, Columbia/ San Bonifacio de las Lanzas) to slot it in, past the players on the goal line, to make it 1-1.
It is now the 81
st minute and the ball comes to Vitor Teixeria (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/ Sistema Piaget de Ensino) on the edge of the box, centrally. He takes a good, low shot to the left corner and the keeper, who saw it late, parries the ball a little wide and in front… That's all that
Ricardo Reyes (Pachuca, Mexico/ Universidad del Futbol) needed, who follows up and smashes the ball, with his non-preferred left foot, into the roof of the net to make it 2-1 and earn the Salem Tigers the win.
Overall, an enormous win for the Tigers, great performance from everybody, great team spirit and a massive shout out to the fantastic support we get week in and week out from our crowd the stands! The Salem International Men's Soccer improve the team's record to 4-5-1, while Seton Hill record becomes 8-5.
The Tigers return to action on Thursday, October 13
th, where they will travel to Cedarville in Cedarville, Ohio.
