The game ended with a score of 2-0.
VINCENT DUSOVIC COURTESY
Zeke Jazwinski, Sports Editor
The weather was warm and comfortable this past Saturday, Sept. 12, as the Manhattan Jaspers men’s team took on the Columbia Lions. The Jaspers were looking to keep the team’s momentum going following their two-game winning streak against Maritime and Howard. The Lions were looking for the sweep of the Bronx, as they had beaten Fordham in their last game days prior.
The first half of the game was a defensive battle with no goals allowed and no shots on target for the Lions. The Quadrangle spoke to head coach Tom Giovatto about whether this was his intended strategy heading into the game.
“You want to get your numbers behind the goal,” Giovatto said. “You want to be in a good, organized shape, which we did, and when we win the ball, we want to go forward, which I think we did at times. We’re just a little bit unlucky with the final pass. I thought there were opportunities open, but we couldn’t capitalize.”
As many great coaches have said, at times, you can learn more from a loss than a win. The Quadrangle asked Tom if there were any moments he could build on from the game.
“First of all, [Columbia] is a very good team – they can really dictate the game, their possession,” Giovatto said. “But I felt like we did an excellent job, especially in the first half. I don’t think they had any real shots. Even in the second half, I felt we were good enough, but we had ourselves down on a set piece, which is one of our strengths, so I was really disappointed [for Columbia] to get that goal. When you’re chasing the game a little bit, it’s going to open up and stay close for a second.”
After a tough game, The Quadrangle sought some players’ perspective to see how they were dealing with the loss. Cristiano Marsilii, graduate forward, spoke about what they can do before entering conference play.
“I mean, these days, we have got to get healthy and see,” Marsilii said. “We had a couple of guys go down today, so that’s unfortunate. The guys that we still have, hurt. So, we have to figure out a way to get healthy. But, just to continue working, to get better every single day, get our shape better defensively. And I think we’re getting closer.”
Cristiano Marsilii was named Metro Conference offensive player of the week earlier in the season; he was one of many newcomers to the Jaspers team this year. The men’s soccer team has introduced 28 new players to their roster just this semester, with a mix of freshmen and transfer students.
As a graduate student, Marsilii brings both skill and experience to the team, already leading the team in goals alongside senior forward Ziv Dahan. According to GoJaspers, “Marsilii has logged eight shots in the previous two games, with four on target, and posted game-winning goals in the last two.”
The Jaspers look to bounce back against UMass Lowell in their next match on Friday, Sept. 18 before starting conference play against Siena the following Saturday.