BRIDGEPORT, West Virginia - After a long run of road contests, the Salem Tigers men's soccer team was excited to get back on the field at The Bridge Sports Complex this afternoon. They played host to one of NCAA Division II's newest programs, the Pioneers of Point Park University. It was a highly competitive contest the whole way. However, despite a furious second half comeback bid and some blustery conditions throughout the contest, the Tigers were unable to overcome the Pioneers and fell by a final score of 4-3.
In the first half, Salem was stung early by two quick goals from the Pioneers in the first 15 minutes. From there, the game was very evenly contested, with neither team truly controlling the ball. That back and forth play continued for the rest of the half alongside a heavy rainstorm that set in for the majority of the period, and Salem went into the break with a big hole to fill in the second half.
The rain faded out coming out of the halftime break, and the drier conditions also brought along a flurry of goals on both sides. First, Point Park added a pair of goals in the early part of the period in a similar way to how they opened the first. With now an even bigger deficit to erase, the Tigers opened up a heroic comeback bid. First, Josue Villegas punched in a shot off an Aldair Cardenas assist to make it 4-1. Shortly thereafter, Villegas added another off a free kick to make it 4-2. The Tigers kept the pressure on, but they were clearly running out of time late in the period. Abdual Kabbany found one more for the Tigers off of a free kick in the 84th minute, and it looked like Salem may just have what it took to totally close the 4-0 deficit. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the Pioneer defense held for the final few moments of the contest, and the Tigers were handed a 4-3 home field loss.
However, there were some bright spots for the Tigers on the stats sheet. Josue Villegas had a great performance for the Tigers with 2 goals on 5 shots. Aldair Cardenas added 2 assists as well for the Tigers. In goal, Josh Hills added 4 saves to his season totals in the contest.
While not the result the Tiger hopeful wanted, Salem will have another chance to get right back at it this week at home. They play host to the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats on Wednesday, October 2nd at 7:30 PM at The Bridge Sports Complex in Bridgeport, West Virginia.
