Men's Soccer Rebuilds And Improves

by Mark Ginocchio

With a 3-13 record last year when the season ended, a majority of the players on Adelphi University's Mens' Soccer team knew that there wasn't any other place to go but up.  Entering the 1999 season, head coach Bob Montgomery had his team prepared as they got set to rise in the ranks and return to respectability.  With captains Erik Blomberg and Paul Stewart providing their leadership, the Panthers got set to take on the University of Cincinnati on September 3.

The Panthers were able to capitalize on penalties by Cincinnati as Paul Stewart netted two goals on penalty kicks, including one with less than a minute remaining in the second overtime to put away Cincinnati 2-1 in the opening game of the Bob's Store/UConn Soccer Classic at Willowbrook Park in New Britain, Conn.  Although Cincinnati was able to strike first when they scored at 41:02, Stewart was able to quickly tie the score on his first penalty kick at the 52:32 mark.  It would take another 67 minutes to pass until Stewart ended the game in dramatic fashion.

Although the victory was certainly a stepping stone for the Panthers, they fell the following game to the University of Hartford in double overtime, 3-2.  However, on September 9, the Panthers' following game against Fordham, a milestone was achieved by Coach Montgomery.  With the 2-0 against the Rams, Montgomery received his 200th career victory.   The teams were in a scoreless tie entering the second half but Mariusz Kulesza's goal at the 53:45 mark was all the Panthers needed to lock up the victory.  Jean-Marc Simedou then put the nail in the coffin when he netted Adelphi's second goal at 81:08 off an assist from Robin Lee.

After losing the next two games against Fairlegh Dickinson (0-1) and American (1-2), the Panthers won their home opener against St. Francis 1-0.  However, their luck didn't carry over when they faced off against Syracuse.  The game was hard-fought, a 1-1 deadlock at the end of the first half.  However Orangeman junior Matt Torok netted a goal at the 64:25 to put Syracuse up for good.  Adelphi lost another nail-biter by one goal.

On September 29, Adelphi started a mini-winning streak after the Syracuse game when they beat up on the LIU Blackbirds from Brooklyn, 3-1.  Just three minutes into the contest, Paul Stewart scored on his fourth penalty kick of the season.  Junior Zach Baldwin followed with his first goal of the season before the first half ended.  Baldwin would also score his second and his teams' third and final goal at the 54:57, which iced the game for the Panthers.  Eleven days later, the Panthers squared off against Oneonta State and took care of the Red Dragons 2-1.  Adelphi benefited from goals by Nick Vaccaro and Marcin Pachowicz, along with some solid goaltending from Igor Yatsenko.

After a loss to nationally ranked St. John's, the Panthers received another setback when they fell to Cornell, 3-1.  They came back with a 2-1 win over Albany and then topped Stony Brook on Homecoming weekend, 3-0.  As of this writing, the Panthers' record stands at 7-7, a vast improvement from last year, although many players feel their record could be even better.  However, their spirit is still up.

"This year has been a rebuilding year and it's been great to improve on our record from last season," commented Zac Baldwin.  "However, we obviously want to continue to improve."