Marist Soccer Defeats Dayton, Stays Unbeaten

WILMINGTON, NC – The Marist men’s soccer team remained unbeaten in 2016 with a thrilling 2-1 win over the University of Dayton Flyers in the final game of the SpringHill Suites Classic on Sunday afternoon. With the win, Marist improves to 4-0-1, their best start since 2003 when they also went 4-0-1 to start the campaign.

Samad Bounthong and Michael Lorello each picked up their first career goals while Lorello also added an assist on the afternoon. Cameron Harr chippd in an assist and led the Red Foxes with four shots and three shots on goal.

“A think we showed a lot of character again” said head coach Matt Viggiano. “Two guys scored their first collegiate goals today which was great. We’re getting contributions from a lot of different places which is a sign of a good team. Obviously tough to play in the heat coming off a game on Friday. The guys gutted through it letting up the equalizer and still coming back and finiding a way to win against a team with great pedigree and might be the hardest working team we play all year.”

The Red Foxes finished the tournament with an overall record of 2-0-0, good for second place behind UNCW who also had a 2-0-0 record but finished with a +5 goal differential as compared to Marist’s +3. Harr, Mark Rajovic and Lorello were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Both teams finished the game with 12 shots and seven shots on goal while the Flyers held a commanding 8-2 edge in corner kicks.

The first half saw a lot of back-and-forth action from both sides, including a flurry of three shots on goal by the Red Foxes in a span of 52 second towards the end of the period. However, both teams headed into the locker rooms tied 0-0 and 5-5 in shots with Maristholding a 3-2 edge in shots on goal.

Lorello finally broke the scoreless tie in the 50th minute when a pass from the outside by Harr led to a one-on-one chance with the Dayton goalie which he slipped into the open net for the 1-0 lead.

The Flyers answered back just over 13 minutes later when Rok Taneski was saved by Rajovic but not controlled and Bennett Lehner knocked home the loose ball for the 1-1 tie.
Both teams battled hard for the go ahead goal and as time ticked down it was the Red Foxes who broke through as Lorello crafted a beautiful through ball to Bounthong who knocked it home for the 2-1 lead with a little over eight minutes left in the game.

With the lead in hand, the Marist defense stood tall, allowing just one shot on goal in the final minutes and time expired with the Red Foxes emerging victorious 2-1.