NEWTON, MA- Potsdam State men's soccer team took the title of Kick Off Classic Champion Sunday afternoon at Taylor Field, with penalty kicks determining the 1-1 tie breaker in the tournament final against Lasell College.
Potsdam's Stephen Auyer (Oswego, NY) was named the tournament Most Valuable Player while the Bears goalkeeper Joe Glackin (Latham, NY) came up with two penalty kick saves, and 12 saves in the 110 minute contest, to take his place on the All-Tournament team. AJ Ramirez (Glens Falls, NY) and Chris Mack (South Glens Falls, NY) also earned All-Tournament accolades for the Bears.
Lasell College was the runner up of the Kick Off Classic, placing Mike Skelton (Conway, NH), Aren Moorman (Somerset, NJ), and Jonathan Klippert (Cumberland, ME) on the All-Tournament team for their efforts over the weekend.
Baruch College finished third in the tournament, going 1-1 overall, after a 13-2 win over Wheelock College in the consolation game Sunday at noon. Wheelock concluded the weekend with a 0-2 record, and a fourth place finish.
The Championship game was as exciting as they get, coming down to the wire in penalty kicks after 110 minutes of play. Ultimately, Potsdam won, 5-4, in the shootout with Sean Atkinson (Lake Ronkonkoma, NY) connecting on the deciding goal.
Despite the outcome, Lasell was the more dominant team throughout the contest, with an aggressive 32-9 advantage in shots and an 8-4 surplus in corner kicks.
The hosts directed the flow of the game for the majority of the minutes in the first half, outshooting the Bears 10-1 at the half. Adam Luciano (Fairfield, CT) gave Lasell their first close-call off of a corner kick by Isaac Soares (Somerset, MA) at 26:34, but Glackin stifled the chance with a great diving save. Jared Lewis (Haverhill, MA) almost put Lasell on the board two minutes later with a rocket from the right side, but the attempt skidded just shy of the far post to maintain the scoreless period.
The Lasers did not give up any chances for the Bears in the early parts of the second half either. The score finally broke just under ten minutes into the stanza, at 53:52, when Skelton smartly lobbed a high shot over the head of Glackin who was charging the junior forward on a breakaway. The shot dropped just short of the goal line and took one bounce before finding the back of the net to give Lasell the 1-0 advantage. Evan Gaccione (Westerly, RI) picked up the assist on the play.
In the 67th minute, Potsdam's Cliff Bondi (Guilderland, NY) leveled the score after fueling the Bear's first on-target shot of the game. Bondi carried the ball down field and danced around two Laser defenders to shoot from just outside the eighteen. The ball blazed just high out of range of Moorman's reach.
Both teams seemed to catch fire for the rest of the contest, both garnering plenty of solid scoring opportunities. In the final minute of regulation, Lasell's rookie midfielder, Peter Clark (Upton, MA) came up with a final shot from the top of the penalty box which Glackin barely tipped over the crossbar to force overtime.
Both overtime sessions came-and-went without a change in the score, eventually leading to the shootout to determine a tournament Champion.
Potsdam's first three shooters put their goals in, but Moorman blocked away their fourth attempt. Lasell scored on their first four chances, taking the lead after Moorman's outstanding save, but Glackin shut down Lasell's final two shooters for the win.
In the opening consolation game, Wheelock's efforts were strong as they played man-down the entire contest against Baruch, having just ten players taking the field. However, Baruch overpowered the Wildcats throughout the contest, producing a 10-1 score in the first. Vincent Cruz (Torrington, CT) and Andreas Hansson (Boras, Sweden) each had tallied a hat trick for the Bearcats prior to the intermission.
Jean-Thelonoius Liu-Vacher (Paris, France) put the Bearcats ahead at 2:32 into the contest with a breakaway give-and-go goal from Alvaro Velazquez (New Rochelle, NY). Shortly thereafter, Cruz recorded his first goal by retrieving a rebound off the cross bar from a previous Baruch shot, and putting it back for the goal.
The game winner was scored by Hansson at 11:51 with a point-blank shot, assisted by Kyle Keague (Garden City, NY).
Wheelock scored their first goal of the 2011 season at 33:02 when Jonathan Krouse (Northboro, MA) drove down field, beating his defender and placing the ball into the back of the Bearcat net.
Krouse would score for the Wildcats again to open the second half of play. At 49:24, Krouse dribbled unassisted into the box and scored from the left field.
The Bearcats enjoyed a 39-4 bulge in shots through the game, as well as a 9-0 advantage in corner kick opportunities. Baruch's goalkeeper Helder Correia (Carle Place, NY) collected his first win of the year, turning aside two shots while Wheelock's Sunshine Shearer (English Harbor, Antigua) was hit with the loss in goal, making six saves in a losing effort.
From Baruch, Akil George (Arima, Trinidad & Tobago) and Liu-Vacher were named to the All-Tournament team while Bobby Venning (Greenfield, NH) and Krouse were selections from Wheelock.
Lasell hits the road this week for their next contest, slated for Wednesday, September 7th at 7:00 p.m. at Curry College.
Tournament MVP:
Stephen Auyer- Potsdam
All-Tournament Team:
Stephen Auyer- Potsdam
Joe Glackin- Potsdam
AJ Ramirez- Potsdam
Chris Mack- Potsdam
Mike Skelton- Lasell
Aren Moorman- Lasell
Jonathan Klippert- Lasell
Akil George—Baruch
Jean-Thelonoius Liu-Vacher- Baruch
Bobby Venning- Wheelock
Jonathan Krouse- Wheelock
