Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Isaiah Wilson found the back of the net for the only goal of the afternoon and the St. Bonaventure defense held strong as the Bonnies men’s soccer team scored an impressive 1-0 victory over defending America East champion Albany Sunday at the Marra Athletics Complex.
The win improves St. Bonaventure to 3-2-1 overall on the season while Albany falls to 3-2.
“Albany is a very good team, I expect them to go very far again this year. Our guys dug in and worked hard,” St. Bonaventure head coach Kwame Oduro said. “One of the key points today was to outwork them and I think we did that.”
Albany held a narrow edge in shots during the first period, 6-5, but the Bonnies created a couple chances to break through during the first half.
A Great Danes foul created an opportunity for the hosts just over a minute in when a Bonnies free kick into Kieran Toland resulted in a header try just over the crossbar.
In the 15th minute, the Bonnies played a great service into Kosi Nwafornso who broke free of the Albany defense in the middle of the field. Nwafornso blasted a shot from the top of the box into the stomach of Albany keeper Danny Vitello who made the save.
Things remained scoreless until the 56th minute when St. Bonaventure broke through.
Jon-Michael Perkins started the game-winning play on a ball hit over the top to the sophomore who played a good touch forward. Nwafornso went to the near post while Wilson worked open on the back post. On a set shot, Wilson rocketed his effort past the keeper for his first goal of the season and the lead.
The Bonnies nearly added insurance in the 80th minute on a rush from Kwame Opoku. Working into the box behind the defense on the near wing, Opoku blasted a shot that forced a leaping save from the Albany keeper.
Bona’s one goal would be enough for the defense and goalkeeper Luke Iacobellis who made six saves for his second clean sheet of the season. Iacobellis now has five games of five or more saves early in the season.
Sunday gave the Bonnies another impressive performance as they have created momentum thus far through a challenging non-conference schedule.
“We try to play we try to play good teams so we can get ready for the A-10. The better teams you play, the more your team learns and the better we will be prepared for conference play,” Oduro stressed. “Hopefully when conference play starts we will have everything organized.”
St. Bonaventure is off until Saturday, Sept. 16 when the Bonnies host Hartwick at 7 p.m.
Leave a Reply