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Andrew Nowel

Men’s Soccer Looks to Bounce Back after 0-1-1 MAAC Start

By Andrew Nowel, Contributor


The men’s soccer team returned home to host their MAAC home opener this past Saturday in a matchup against the Saint Peter’s Peacocks. It was a frustrating final result for the Griffs as the game ended in a 1–1 draw with the only goal coming off a penalty kick from Saint Peter’s. Head Coach Michael Tanke and the Griffs look forward to the rest of MAAC play, and are ready to figure out how to earn their first MAAC win of the season and turn the tides in their favor.

On Sept. 28, the Griffs began MAAC play at Manhattan with a 3–0 loss, and the struggles continued with an even more frustrating loss to Robert Morris 5–1; all five goals were allowed by the Griffs in the first half. Heading into the Saint Peter’s game on Saturday, Coach Tanke was “ready to see the team play who themselves came ready to play.” 

The Griffs were starting with sophomore goalkeeper Kennan King who took over in the second half against Robert Morris in the previous game. It was King’s first start of his career and early on was a struggle for King and the Griffs defense. A foul in the box resulted in a penalty kick goal from the Peacocks, giving them a quick 1–0 lead, but the Griffs solidified their defense, only allowing three more shot attempts for the rest of the game, none on goal. 

With under seven minutes to play in the first half, junior Michael Switala found the back of the net with his fourth goal of the season, tying the game at one. This helped to switch momentum for the Griffs, but the Peacocks defense settled down and wouldn’t allow any more goals the rest of the game. There were 13 shot attempts with six on goal for the Griffs in the second half, but most of them were not quality shots as Coach Tanke told us in a postgame interview. On Wednesday, Coach Tanke echoed his postgame interview with Maggie Tifft.

“The draw against Saint Peter’s is really disappointing from a result standpoint. I think it was an overall good performance if you look at the underlying stats and watch the game and everything that went into it. So, those are all positives, but the result itself isn’t what we wanted; we wanted to win that game.”

The Griffs will travel to Marist on Friday night to continue MAAC play, searching for that elusive first MAAC win.



Photo Courtesy of Joe Lehrman.

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