Men’s Soccer Team Advances to NJCAA Semifinals
Strong Second-Half Propels Cougars
The Genesee Community College men's soccer team scored three unanswered goals to rally from a 1-0 deficit to beat Howard Community College 3-1 Nov. 9 at host Herkimer County Community College in the National Junior College Athletic Association D-III Men's Soccer quarterfinal match.
With the win, Genesee now advances to a 6:30 p.m. semifinal Nov. 10 against Camden County, who defeated Suffolk County 2-1.
Howard got its only goal about 10 minutes into the contest although the Cougars were clearly more dominant by dictating most of the play and holding a solid edge in possession.
Iyad Lablack took a feed from Ross White about 17 minutes after Howard's goal to tie the game at 1-1 and the game stayed tied the rest of the first.
Genesee head coach Ken Gavin wasn't pleased with his team's first-half play, but did like Lablack's goal, "I thought the movement on Iyad's goal was excellent, but we played poorly in the first. I thought we dealt well with their speed, especially since they sat back and waited to counter attack. Once the second started we controlled the game better and developed a rhythm."
The Cougars appeared even more dominant in the second half, but couldn't seem to get the go-ahead goal. Then about midway through the second Sam Hall substituted in and with a fresh pair of legs found the back of the net for the game winner just minutes after entering the game with Billy Murphy earning an assist.
Genesee added some insurance after Tate Dean corralled a loose ball between himself, the Howard goalkeeper and a defender about four minutes after Hall's goal with Ryan Price earning an assist for the game's final goal.
The Cougars out-shot the Dragons 9-3 with Cougar goalkeeper David Ormiston recording a pair of saves in the win.
