GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- Winning matches while down players to injury, especially in a game that is as demanding as the sport of soccer is from a stamina and pace perspective, can be quite difficult -- especially on the road.
However, the make up of this particular Shawnee State men's soccer team is of a high quality, in particular in the mental and emotional aspects of the game.
Down no less than five key starters or reserves due to injury, the Bears overcame a shot disadvantage and a 12-10 foul disadvantage to the Georgetown Tigers' men's soccer program through pure tenacity and grit.
Theo Trindade's 41st minute goal off of an
Alfie Maynard feed and the first career goal from Shawnee State freshman
Alex Kennedy off of a pass from Trindade in the 71st minute helped the Bears take a 2-0 lead through the first 71 minutes of action, then SSU held off a late charge from the Tigers to claim a key 2-1 victory Saturday afternoon in a nonconference contest that was held at Toyota Stadium in Georgetown, Ky.
GAME SUMMARY
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Despite facing a 12-5 shot disadvantage to the homestanding Tigers, Shawnee State moved with poise and precision in its attack, placing four out of its five shots on target while Georgetown put just five shots on frame during the contest.
The Bears also got a stingy defensive effort.
Despite Georgetown playing 18 players, slightly over Shawnee State's 17 in a game that saw SSU outnumbered in available depth for the first time all season, Shawnee State overcame that slight advantage by getting ironman work from six different players.
Goalkeeper
Toby Forsythe, defendersÂ
João Coqueti Léo,
Clement Akanyah and Belo Bitencourt, midfielder
Ephraim Mutombo and winger
Sei Aitoku all played 90 minutes Saturday. Georgetown, meanwhile, had just four accomplish the same feat on the opposite side.
"This was a great win for us," Shawnee State men's soccer head coach Stan Rodrigues said. "After not having the best outcome against Campbellsville, it was important to move on from that disappointing loss and focus forward on sealing up what was in front of us Saturday. Despite injuries that have depleted our depth, our reserves stepped up, took on heavier roles, and essentially, started and finished with a win. That makes me proud in and of itself, but beyond that, the team was incredibly positive and supportive of one another, and we had both a freshman score in Alex (Kennedy) as well as a vet score in Theo (Trindade). We did a great job. I'm proud of our guys for how we have handled adversity. We'll look to get healthy and prepare to get back at it against Cincinnati-Clermont Friday evening."
Despite six shots coming from Georgetown over the first 40 minutes of play, the Shawnee State defense stood strong -- blocking two of the attempts while a third sailed off to the right. The additional three first half tries were each stopped by Shawnee State sophomore goalkeeper
Toby Forsythe, who ultimately finished with five stops for the afternoon.
With the contest still scoreless entering the 41st minute, Trindade capitalized.
On a free kick from midfield, the ball was boomed 40 yards into the air, where it was headed twice by Shawnee State bodies before ending up at the feet of Trindade following a save by Georgetown's Lukas Steiner. Trindade ultimately caught Steiner out of position and wasted no time firing home a shot from point-blank range to put the Bears ahead by a 1-0 margin with less than five minutes to go in the first half.
Neither team was able to establish a great deal of offensive momentum early in the second half, but just over 25 minutes into the final frame of action, Shawnee State struck again.
This time, it was Trindade creating the opportunity for a teammate.
Moving at high speed at the central part of the pitch, Trindade hurried up the field, moved outside around the left hash marks, then diced back inside, where Trindade laid the ball off to
Alex Kennedy.
Kennedy, who made two soft touches with the ball to control it, then beat Georgetown goalkeeper Simon Heine for the maiden goal of his Shawnee State career -- giving the Bears a big 2-0 lead with less than 20 minutes to play in the match.
While Georgetown capitalized on an opportunity in the 85th minute on Reid Schulten's goal on a Frederik Pederson pass, the Bears clamped down defensively the rest of the way as SSU blocked two shots while Forsythe made an 86th minute save on Pederson's free kick to help conclude matters in Shawnee State's favor.
ADDITIONAL
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Shawnee State (3-1-1) will get six days of rest before returning to action Friday, Sept. 12 with a nonconference matchup against Cincinnati-Clermont. That bout begins at 6 p.m. at Shawnee Turf in Portsmouth.
