By ADMIR DURAKOVIC
Managing Editor
(TEANECK) – The Knights hosted Yale on Sunday Sep. 23 but lost 1-0 in regulation time. The result worsened the Knights’ record to 3-4-2. Yale’s record improved to 3-2-1 with this result.
The Knights got off to a nightmare start when Yale sophomore forward Aldo Quevedo played through Yale freshman forward Paolo Carroll who fired home for his first goal of the season.
“In that kind of game it can be just one mistake that means whether you win or lose,” said head coach Seth Roland. “In this case it meant they won and we lost with one mistake five minutes into the game.”
FDU sophomore forward Jacob Labovitz found himself in Yale’s box two minutes after the opener but was called for offside by the sideline referee before he could level the score.
The rest of the first half saw both teams applying tons of pressure on each other in the middle of the pitch as neither team could create a solid chance on goal.
“I thought they outplayed us in the first half, they had possession,” Roland said, “They put a lot of pressure on you and they don’t give you a lot of room to keep the ball. I don’t think we did a good job of that (keeping possession).”
Possession of the ball rarely left the middle, both teams were constantly halted by intense pressure and crunching tackles in the middle of the pitch.
“I thought we did a little better in the second half of trying to take the game to them,” said Roland. “But they’re a good team. They’re solid and difficult to break down.”
“That kind of game is a little like a fight in a phone booth, it’s not the prettiest of games,” said Roland.
A couple of players managed to shine in the narrow defeat.
“I thought the guy who in a consistent manner was making the best decisions with the ball was Leo Dalesandro, said Roland, “I thought defensively we worked hard, everybody worked hard. You have Wojciech Piwowarczyk and Anthony Herbert, our two center backs, just working and working and working.”
The game itself was full of flying tempers, both teams committed more fouls than shots on goal. The referee also let plenty of hard challenges from both teams go in both periods of the game.
Tensions rose to a boiling point when Yale senior forward Kyle Kenagy got into the face of FDU freshman defender Herbert. The referee saw no malice in Herbert’s tackle and let the play continue. Kenagy furiously rose from the ground to confront Herbert but the two were pulled away by their respective teammates.
“I’m proud of the restraint our player showed, said Roland. “Their player, the card could have been another color then yellow. But whatever, I thought we showed good restraint. It gets a little heated, that’s what happens sometimes, it’s competitive.”
Overall, the coach found a couple of positives to take away from the result.
“I’m very pleased with the effort our guys put in against a team that will probably challenge for the Ivy League Title, said Roland, “So I thought the mentality was good and the effort was there, and I appreciate and I’m proud of that.”
