Ayoub Boumelala from Manhattan in action.
GOJASPERS.COM / COURTESY
By Owen McWalters, Contributor
The Jaspers clashed with Mount Saint Mary’s College at Gaelic Park on Saturday afternoon. In a physical game that was filled with penalties and opportunities, MU fell short in a 2-1 loss.
Mount Saint Mary’s found success early, as they netted their first goal just six minutes into the game. The goal was courtesy of Maks Czyz. He found himself open on a corner kick that would find the back of the net for the Knights. This 1-0 lead set the tone for the Knights in the first half.
Coming into the second half, it seemed as if that tone had switched almost immediately. Just four minutes into the half, Jaspers forward Sebastian Musu would charge the net and draw a penalty in the box. He would convert the awarded penalty kick and knot the game up at one a piece. Musu commented on his successful approach for the kick after the game.
“I’m very confident with myself,” Musu said. “Of course, those moments take a little bit of time and you think a little bit. Then at the end of the day I say to myself ‘I’m going to score every time I hit the ball.’”
The Knights responded quickly with a goal of their own. Just 10 minutes later, Graham Douglad would fire a shot into the Jaspers net and put the Knights up 2-1. That would prove to be the game-winner.
The rest of the game would have the Knights sitting back in a defensive front. An aggressive Jaspers team would tack on additional fouls and a yellow card. Although a valiant effort, the Jaspers would end up dropping the game 2-1.
Although quiet, the offense was still able to fire off 17 shots throughout the game, including four of them being on goal. With some chances that missed the net and others that were stopped by Knights keeper, Julian Marcos.
“We did pretty well to create chances in the first half,” Musu said. “We approached well. We played with our tempo. We got the penalty, we scored the penalty. I think we did some good things.”
Looking forward, the Jaspers will take a trip down to Jersey City for their next matchup against St. Peters. The struggling Peacocks have yet to find a win on the season with a record of 0-7-2 (0-1-1 thus far against the MAAC). Jaspers forward Tony Yeboah commented on how the team will have to respond next Saturday.
“Sometimes (the game) doesn’t go your way, but that’s just part of the game,” Yeboah said. “It doesn’t mean we did not work hard. We work harder, and we’re going to continue working harder so that we can bounce back. We never gave up. Last season we did a lot by going to away games and winning a lot of those games. I think that we can do that this season too.”
The game proved to be a tough loss for the Jaspers. They will now move to 1-1 in MAAC play.
The coaches of the team were not made available to comment following the game.