Courtesy of RITAthletics.com
ROCHESTER, NY — The RIT (0-1-0) men’s soccer team fell to The College at Brockport (1-0-0), 2-1 on Friday afternoon in the regular season opener and first contest of the 2017 Doug May Memorial Tournament. Brockport’s Justin Mercer scored the game winner in the 69th minute.
Shots were 11-4 in favor of RIT. Brockport took four corner kicks to just one for the Tigers. Joseph Romano got the win in net for Brockport, making four saves. Peter Cinibulk (Bellbrook, OH/Bellbrook)took the loss for RIT, making one save.
Brockport took an early lead, tallying in the fourth minute. Quintin Volpe intercepted a back-pass by the RIT defense and sprinted in alone, beating Cinibulk and scoring to give the Golden Eagles an early lead.
The Tigers had a good chance with a little under 26 minutes to play in the opening half. Nick Simone(Hilton, NY/Hilton) sent a ball into the Brockport penalty box. Anthony DeFeo (Rochester, NY/Hilton)and Simon Garno (Hilton, NY/Hilton) were poised to strike the ball in the box. The ball fell to Garno, but he whipped a shot wide of the net.
A minute later, RIT tied the game on DeFeo’s first goal of the season. The Tigers were able to build an attack our of the back with the ball going out wide to Mark-Vincent Sansone (Hilton, NY/Aquinas Institute). He fed a ball to Garno who fired a pass to DeFeo who took one touch and tucked the ball into the far-post to tie the score at 1-1.
Sansone had a shot from 15 yards out inside the first minute of the second half that whistled just wide of the net. Later in the half, Garno got behind the Brockport defense and was in alone. Romano came out of his net and disrupted Garno just before he could get a shot away. Moments later, Garno had a free kick from 20-yards out curl around the Brockport wall and into Romano’s hands for the save.
Just after RIT’s pressure, Brockport took the lead on Mercer’s goal. Volpe sent a long service into the RIT box that Mercer ran onto and fired into the far corner.
With a little over five minutes to play, RIT had a great chance off a free kick. Garno sent a service into the box. DeFeo headed a ball to Jared Short (Grafton, WI/Cedarburg) who tried to re-direct a shot with his chest, but Romano was alert and made the save.
RIT will face No. 8 Rutgers-Newark tomorrow afternoon from Tiger Stadium at 4 p.m. for day two of the Doug May Memorial Tournament.
May, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 54, coached at RIT for 16 seasons, positioning the Tigers as a perennial contender for the national championship. Under his guidance, RIT made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, four trips to the Final Four and an appearance in the 1988 Division III title game. He moved on to coach Nazareth College from 1996-2003, leading the Golden Flyers to the Empire 8 co-championship in his final season. He posted a career record of 251-120-38 over the course of 24 seasons, including an incredible 196-56-24 mark at RIT. He was inducted into the RIT Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.
Coach May’s lasting influence is demonstrated by the hundreds of people who continue to gather each year in his honor. Shortly after Coach May’s passing, the Doug May Memorial Foundation was established to continue his legacy through charitable giving in ways that reflect his life and impact the local, regional and national level. Each year the Foundation awards 2 scholarships (1 male and 1 female) to deserving Rochester area high school senior soccer players who exemplify the character and spirit of Coach Doug May.
The Foundation is also the sponsor of a United Soccer Coaches scholarship that awards scholarships for deserving individuals who desire to enhance their coaching skills through advanced courses and licensing.
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