The Stony Brook men's soccer team had a breakout performance with three goals in a 3-1 rout over High Point at the Flash Gordon Invitational Friday evening. The victory was head coach Ryan Anatol's first career win. Juniors Raphael Abreu (New York, N.Y.), Kyle Schlesinger (Selden, N.Y.) and Leonardo Fernandes (Sao Paulo, Brazil) all scored for the Seawolves.
The win gives Stony Brook a 1-1-2 record so far this regular season. High Point falls to 1-1-1. It was High Point's first regular season home loss since Oct. 7, 2009, a span of 13 matches.
"I thought the guys played extremely well tonight," Anatol said. "It was a physical contest and a battle. Last week, we talked about finishing games, and tonight the guys learned how to win. With our offense, strong defense and timely saves, the win was truly a team effort."
Abreu got the Seawolves on the board in the 35th minute as he took a cross from sophomore Will Casey (Setauket, N.Y.) and slapped the ball past High Point goalkeeper Michael Chesler from five yards out for the goal. The goal was part of an active first half for the Seawolves. They recorded six first-half shots, four on goal, and also had four corner kicks.
In the second half, High Point got aggressive on offense and attempted a slew of shots in the early going. High Point's Alex Martinez took a shot that Stony Brook goalkeeper Stefan Manz (Bronx, N.Y.) saved and deflected out of bounds. Martinez then had a corner opportunity, but the Seawolves negated it, and in transition, Schlesinger took a cross from junior Berian Gobeil Cruz (Montreal, Quebec) and slammed it home past Chesler for the second goal. It was Schlesinger's first goal of the season and put the Seawolves up 2-0.
Not even a minute later, Stony Brook committed a foul in the box, setting up a penalty shot for Panthers player Shawn Sloan. However, Sloan's shot went to the left, and Manz made a diving stop for the big save, preserving the two-goal lead.
Eventually, the Panthers did score as Martinez finally put the ball past Manz for a goal in the 65th minute. Manz made another save in the 66th minute, and then the Seawolves set up another scoring opportunity as junior Antonio Crespi (North Babylon, N.Y.) played a ball to sophomore Glenn Whelan (Forest Hills, N.Y.), who then relayed it to an open Fernandes, who slipped by his defender, but was fouled from behind, setting up a penalty kick. Fernandes converted the opportunity for a goal and a commanding 3-1 lead.
High Point took a few more shots, but none went on goal, and the Seawolves held on to victory.
In addition to the offense, the Seawolves got strong defense from their backs, especially from junior transfer Charlie Jones (Birmingham, England).
The Seawolves were outshot 17-10, but had more shots on goal than the Panthers, 9-4. Fernandes had the most shots on goal with three. Manz finished with three saves.
The physical contest saw nine cards issued out, four to Stony Brook and five to High Point.
Stony Brook will conclude the Flash Gordon Invitational Sunday against Radford at 12 p.m.
