In front of more than 100 fans, the men’s soccer defeated St. Thomas 1-0 at the Dustdevil field.
The Dustdevils took the initiative in the beginning of the first half when sophomore defender Armando Villarreal sent a pass to senior defender Raul Quiñones. He sent a crossing pass to freshman forward Leonardo Ramos, who was unable to possess the ball.
The team pressured the St. Thomas net and had an opportunity to score when Quinones received a pass from freshman defender Julian Hierro and penetrated the box. He sent a hard, low shot that hit the post. The rebound landed directly at Quinones’s feet; however, his shot went high and over the bar.
In the second half, the men adjusted and created more opportunities in the field, finishing with 8 shots against 2 from St. Thomas.
The Dustdevils attempted to break the stalemate with a header by junior midfielder Gregory Mulamba, which looked on target, but the ball hit the face of the post and landed on the feet of Ramos. His shot went wide open.
The team had another opportunity via a free kick. Quiñones initiated the play by sending a slide pass to junior midfielder Gregory Mulamba; he sent a crossing pass to Ramos, but his shot crashed on the post.
Minutes later, Mulamba eluded a St. Thomas defender and launched a blast from outside the area, but the ball hit the post for the fourth time, keeping the game scoreless.
In the 69th minute of the second half, Quiñones played the ball from the left flank and sent a pass to Mulamba. He passed to junior midfielder Adeyemi Gill, whose hard, low shot ended into the back of the net.
After the goal, the defense stopped every St. Thomas attempt, thus securing the victory.
“We made some adjustments in halftime, and that really opened their defense,” said men’s soccer coach Claudio Arias. “I thing it made a big difference in the second half… as we made those corrections in halftime we were to able to possess the ball more purposefully [with the] objective of getting to the other side quickly.”
Forward, Adeyemi Gill, thought his team did a good job possessing the ball although their transitions could have been better. He was also proud of his team’s persistent efforts to score a goal.
“I am just happy I have all these guys,” Gill said. “They worked hard in there…and applied the concepts that we taught, so everything goes to them.”