By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
LATROBE, Pa. – After less than 12 minutes of play the Juniata College men's soccer team had a two-goal lead against St. Vincent College (SVC) and never looked back. The Eagles opened the scoring in the third minute and held off a determined Bearcats squad in the second half for the 2-0 win. Juniata is now 2-0 on the season. SVC moves to 1-2.
"We knew we had to come out on fire and we did," said head coach Dan Dubois. "We came out quick and did what we needed to do for the win."
In the third minute, senior Andy Blunk (State Colleg, Pa./State College) took a pass from freshman Dani Meyer-Arrivilla (Durham, N.C./Carolina Friends) and was able to power past the St. Vincent keeper for the score.
"The guys know that if they stick to our game plan then the offense can work," said Dubois. "Our system works well when we stick to the plan and if we do that we are going to continue to have success."
For the next ten minutes, Juniata controlled possession, easily dismissing an offensive attack by SVC. In the 12th minute junior Nick Weit (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) found junior Robby Higgins (Middletown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) in open space. Higgins slotted the ball far post for the second score of the game.
For the remainder of the half, the Eagles maintained possession and hammered the SVC goal, but were unable to convert for the score. Juniata fired off 10 shots and had five corner kicks, with seven shots and four corners coming after the two goals were scored.
"We really dominated possession in the first half," added Dubois. "We knew they were going to come out on fire in the second half and we stayed with them, but they really pushed us in the end."
The Bearcats did everything they could to get on the board, launching five shots in the second half and winning the corner kick battle 4-2. But the Eagles defense held strong, thanks is part to second-half goalkeeper Blaine Barsch (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek).
"Blaine did a great job in the second half," said Dubois. "He came up with two big saves to keep the shutout.
The freshman combined with classmate Jonathan Phillips (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) for the second straight shutout of the season. The two keepers have each played 90 minutes of soccer this year and earned clean sheets in both games.
The Eagles spent the majority of the second half fighting it out in their own end of the field trying to hold back the SVC offense.
"Our next step is to put a complete game together," said Dubois. "In the past couple of games we've played maybe 70 minutes. We need to work on playing the full 90 and we'll get to that in training this weekend. I'm really looking forward to this weekend and hopefully some more good play from the guys."
The Eagles are next in action Saturday, Sept. 7th at D'Youville College. Juniata will have its home opener Thursday, Sept. 12 against Mt. Alyoisus at 4 p.m.
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