By D.J. Bevivino
NEWBURGH – What a battle today between the Knights of Mount Saint Mary College and the Maccabees of Yeshiva University. The weather did everything it could to not cooperate with the start of the match, but cleared up for the second half of the match.
The Knights got on the board early as Marco Mazzarelli entered the final third of Yeshiva and spied the opposing goalie off his line and hit a beautifully placed shot just over the keeper’s head and below the crossbar from about 40 yards out. Mazzarelli wasn’t done though. Late in the first half the he was able to find his teammate Quinn Tynan on the back post for a well-placed header into the back of the net.
The energy was palpable from the Knights on the field and crowd supporting them. Seeing the team back to strength and playing well, had Kaplan field buzzing. The positive plays on offense lifted the defense to step up. Sophomore Sam Bevevino, once again taking the helm at center back, keeping the Knights organized and helping Junior Keeper Caesar Martinez shut out the half.
In the second half the storm clouds broke, and unfortunately so did the Mount Saint Mary defense. Two early goals by the Maccabees, had the game tied up. Although that was were the game score finished, the second half saw no love lost between the teams. The passion of both teams was evident as each contested challenge of the ball saw hard hits and tough tackles. Senior J.C. Lopez took the brunt of many of the Yeshiva hits, displaying his leadership he got up each time and went right back at the attack.
Mount Saint Mary will be on the road this week as they travel to SUNY Poly on Wednesday and SUNY Geneseo on Saturday.