BRIDGEPORT, West Virginia - After falling in the season debut on the road, the Salem Tigers men's soccer team took the field today at The Bridge Sports Complex in their first home contest of the season against the Point Park Pioneers. It was a tightly contested game throughout, but a second half goal elevated the Tigers past their Pioneer foes 1-0. 

In the first half, Salem controlled the ball well, and limited Point Park to just 2 shots to Salem's 5. However, neither team was able to find the back of the net, and the game went into the halftime break in a 0-0 deadlock. 

To open the second half, the Tigers again found themselves in a defensive battle with the Pioneers. The first major opportunity the Tigers had came in the 55th minute when a major Point Park miscue led to a red card against the Pioneers. With the man advantage for the rest of the way, the Tigers kicked the offensive attack into high gear in order to break the deadlock. They found the lone goal of the contest when Caleb Christner weaved his way past the Pioneer defense, and drew the goalkeeper out just enough to slip a quick pass over to Abdul Kabbany who tapped it in to give Salem the 1-0 lead. From there, the Tigers' backline held strong, and kept every Point Park run at bay on the way to the final 1-0 victory. 

Statistically, Salem was led by the goal from Kabbany and the assist from Christner. Gabe Morales and Aldair Cardenas Villamizar also played well offensively. Jason Barrientos will be credited with the shutout in goal, and he logged a single save in the contest. 

Next up, the Tigers are set to host the Storm of Lake Erie College on September 10th at 2:30 PM at The Bridge Sports Complex in Bridgeport, West Virginia.