The men’s soccer team snapped a three game losing streak but remained winless Saturday, holding Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to a double-overtime 0–0 draw at Carp Wood Field.
The Bombers’ first shutout of the season was split between senior goalkeeper Justin Parlapiano and junior goalkeeper Evan Kirshner. Parlapiano played all 45 minutes of the first half and saved the only shot on goal he faced — a shot by RPI junior forward Andrew Tambasco in the 27th minute. Kirshner took over for the second half and played both 10-minute overtimes, recording seven saves on seven shots on goal.
Senior midfielder Bill Barrowman said the match was a major improvement from the Bombers’ play in recent games.
“Today was a much better effort”, Barrowman said. “We got a lot more chances on goal, we defended well, we got back in the middle, pinched in tight and we had some really good goalkeeping today. We had a lot of guys play forward today and everyone made a good effort and [senior midfielders and team co-captains] Jeff Geyer and Matt Baluzy did a really good job.”
Geyer led the Bombers with two shots, including one shot on goal. Baluzy registered one shot on goal, a shot in the 87th minute that also proved to be the closest the Bombers came to finding the back of the net. Sophomore midfielder Jack Shirley had the third of the Bombers’ three shots on goal in the 14th minute.
Sophomore midfielder Dan Shirley said the Bombers’ confidence and defensive play were much better than the Bombers’ 2–1 loss to SUNY–Cortland on Tuesday.
“We definitely improved on defense and just confidence in general,” Shirley said. “Our morale was way higher than it has been previous games.”
The draw was the third of the season for the Bombers and the fifth time in six games that the final score was decided by one goal or less.
“For any game that we’re going to play in, it’s going to be a close game no matter what”, sophomore defensive back Ryan Norland said. “Even the conference games are really close, so you can’t just back down.”
The Bombers, after a two game 0-1-1 home stand against Cortland and RPI that were their final two nonconference home games of the season, improve to 0–3–3 overall. The South Hill squad’s next game is against the Marywood University Pacers at 4 p.m. Friday in Scranton, Pa.
