Knights men's soccer falls to Paul Smiths
September 23, 2017

Knights men's soccer falls to Paul Smiths

Box Score

Randolph Center, VT - Under clear skies, with a full bench, and in front of their home crowd, the VTC Knight's found themselves 2 goals behind after the first half and 3 goals behind minutes into the second. Behind the leadership of team captain Dave Mattern (South Royalton, VT), the team climbed back to cut the lead to one goal, but never found the third and fell 3-2 to Paul Smiths College. The Knights fall to 2-2 in conference play with matchups against top team still to come.  

 

The teams were evenly matched throughout. The match was marked by poor possession by both teams, with the Knights having particular difficulty completing passes under the Bobcat's more intense pressure. The ball traveled end-to-end repeatedly, with Paul Smith's taking ten shots on goal in the first half to VTC's nine. 

 

Logan Milligan of Paul Smiths struck found the net in the 31th minute on an assist from Nathan Smith. That woke the Knights from their sleepy play, and they kept the Bobcat goal keeper busy for much of the remainder of the half. Yet, on a rapid transition, the Nathan Smith struck in the closing minute of the half to put his team up 2-0 at the half. 

 

The Knights returned determined to erase the deficit, but just 90 seconds in the Bobcats notched another goal and the home team found themselves down 3-0. The Knights fought back, again keeping the Bobcat keeper busy. Matt Brien (Colchester, VT) scored on a penalty kick after teammate Dave Mattern was taken down in the box. The Knights continued to press, though surrendered the ball repeatedly allowing the Bobcats to counter. In the 83rd minute VTC's Dave Mattern battled through the Bobcat defense single-handedly and slotted the ball back to Scott Durkee (Chelsea, VT) who trimmed the deficit to a single goal. Time ran out before the Knights could earn the equalizer. 

The Knights play next at Southern Vermont College on the 27th.