The Homecoming struggles prevailed late Saturday night as UNH men’s soccer lost 3-1 to UAlbany. UNH returned home with a 3-game winning streak, only to have it broken in a game that resulted in plenty of frustration.
UNH controlled possession early, but found it tough to crack UAlbany’s defense. From the start, it appeared that the team that capitalized on their counterattacks would prevail. UAlbany’s junior midfielder, Ivar Gissurarson, cashed in on one of these chances early, netting a point-blank finish off a low and firm cross in the eighteenth minute. Four minutes later, Gissurarson potted his second shortly after a Great Danes corner kick.
The scoreboard favored the visitors at the half, but the first 45 minutes featured chances for the Wildcats. UNH had multiple set pieces in dangerous areas, one of them resulting in a promising shot from UNH freshman Xahvi DeRoza, which was turned away by a diving stop from UAlbany keeper Andrej Krivokapic, with 17 minutes to go in the half. The half ended with UNH momentum, but nothing to show for it.
The second half featured sustained pressure from UNH, with the ball barely leaving the home side of the field. UNH struck early when Xahvi DeRoza snuck in behind the UAlbany back line, made a move around the UAlbany keeper, and finished into an empty net to cut the deficit to one just six minutes into the half.
UAlbany hardly possessed the ball, but once again, it was only short bursts of UAlbany pressure that plagued the Wildcats. With only 13 minutes left, UAlbany forward, Andre Navas, sent a soaring free kick into the box that found the head of center back, Rodrigo Hermelo, and found its way into the back of the net. The three-to-one goal came on the first and only shot in the half from the visitors and put the game out of reach.
The third UAlbany goal highlighted a significant flaw in the wildcat defense, being the second goal to shortly follow a set piece. The three-to-one result featured plenty of frustration on the home team’s sideline in a game where the smallest of mistakes were amplified.
DeRoza, UNH’s only goal scorer, spoke after the game on what the team needs to take into its final stretch of the regular season: “Truly, I think it would be the resilience that we have. Especially after the Binghamton game, coming back and for the long stretch that we had this half. But yeah, we definitely have resilience.”
UNH falls to 3-5-3 overall and 1-1-0 in conference play with the loss to UAlbany. Their resilience will be tested with only conference games remaining on their schedule. They will return to UNH after their travel to Baltimore, Maryland, where the Wildcats tied with the UMBC Retrievers on Saturday, Oct. 11. Watch them this Saturday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m., vs Vermont.
