Box Score YORK, PA – The York College men's soccer team saw their six match win streak come to a halt with a 2-0 loss to St. Mary's College in the regular season finale for both squads. The Seahawks snap a 17-match losing streak to the Spartans as York is now 28-3-1 all time against St. Mary's.
With the loss, the Spartans are now 9-7-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the Capital Athletic Conference. The Spartans have earned the second seed in the upcoming CAC tournament despite the setback. The win improves the Seahawks to 7-8-2 overall while they are now 3-5-1 in the conference.
The Spartans dominated the opening ten minutes of the contest as they had the ball down the Seahawks throat. Unfortunately for York, that domination of play didn't translate into any great offensive chances.
St. Mary's took advantage of their first offensive chance in the 13th minute of the game. Junior Nick Tait captured a 50/50 ball just outside the Spartan defensive box. Tait chested the ball to fellow junior Nick Fontenot who settled the ball on his foot and unleashed a shot across the box and inside the left post for the game's opening salvo.
The remainder of the half was mostly played in the between the two boxes as neither team could sustain any offensive penetration. The Spartans' best chance came in the 29th minute of play as Greg Bechard (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) collected a pass in the left side of the box. The Seahawks defense pressured Bechard and he couldn't take one more touch and was forced to take a shot one step earlier than he wanted. The shot was saved, as the Spartans couldn't get on the board.
The Seahawks outshot the York 7-3 in the opening 45 minutes including 2-1 in shots on goal.
The Spartans came out of the locker room playing with a sense of urgency as they attacked the Seahawks defensive third. The Green and White had a golden chance just over a minute into the second half. Junior Nigel Robinson (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) carried the ball into the box and beat St. Mary's goalie Zack Haussler. Unfortunately for York, Robinson was at a harsh angle when he corralled the ball. Robinson flicked a pass across the goalmouth to a charging Bechard. Bechard just missed the ball but the pass carried to the far left of the box where Brendan Saberton (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) had an opportunity to strike the ball but narrowly missed the chance to convert the pass into a goal.
Junior Matt Freibaum (New Market, Md./Linganore) had an open shot in the 52nd minute but pulled the shot wide left.
The Seahawks plunged a dagger into the Spartans with just under 20 minutes left in regulation as they played a great counter off a York attack after an obvious penalty in the box wasn't called. Juwan Kearson drove the ball down the right end line and he flicked a pass into the box to Tait. Tait played a great one touch to Sunny Chhatani who blasted a shot inside the left post for his fifth goal of the year.
York had a few more great chances in the final 15 minutes of play but the near misses continued to plague the Green and White.
The two teams finished the match with 12 shots each while St. Mary's held the edge in shots on goal, 5-2. The Seahawks also ended up with a slight advantage in corner kicks, 5-4.
Haussler earned the win as he recorded two saves in notching the shutout win. The clean sheet is his third of the year. Charlie Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) suffered the loss as he allowed the two goals while recording three saves in his 90 minutes of work.
The Spartans have earned a first-round bye in the tournament by virtue of their second place finish. The Spartans will play Wednesday, November 3 in the CAC semifinals. They will play the winner of the 3/5 CAC first round game. That first round game will be held on Saturday, November 1 at the higher seed. Please check the Spartan athletics website www.ycpspartans.com for all tournament information.
Nigel Robinson photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers
