One of the goals (so to speak) for the 2009 Concord Men’s Soccer Team is to finish in the top six of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Conference and qualify for the conference tournament.
While the post-season is still far off, the Mountain Lions took a step closer to it with a dramatic 2-1 win over Ohio Valley, Thursday, September 17 at Anderson Field.
Concord scored twice in the final five minutes to erase a 1-0 deficit and improve its record to 3-3, 1-1 in the WVIAC.
“There are no patsies in this league,” CU Head Coach Steve Barrett. “You can’t take a day off against anyone. So to get this win today, with UPJ coming in for another league match on Saturday, it means a lot.”
Concord controlled possession for much of the game, and pressed the attack early. The Mountain Lions saw two early shots seemingly bound for the net be denied by bad bounces – one off the left upright, the other off the crossbar.
Concord settled for a scoreless draw at halftime. Early in the second half, OVU scored first, on a counterattack, with Alex Scott finding the net at 56:44.
“That was a tough goal to give up,” Barrett said. “But we never got down. It would have been very easy to hang our heads and feel like the game was over. But we never did that. We stayed with what we were trying to do and it paid off.”
Concord played with a man advantage for much of the second half, after OVU’s Danny D’Amore was sent off with a red card at 67:06. The Mountain Lions’ sustained pressure on the Fighting Scots defense at last paid dividends at 85:16, when sophomore Zach Piekarski (Crystal Lake, IL/Prairie Ridge HS) scored off a throw-in (pictured), assisted by sophomore Scotty Funston (Orlando, FL/Edgewater HS), to square the match at 1-1.
“Piekarski’s very deceptive,” Barrett said. “He’s brilliant in the air. To score off a long throw-in, that’s dangerous. We look to him to come through on plays just like that.”
The Mountain Lions got the decisive goal after thwarting an Ohio Valley attack. Junior F Varney Vincent (Liberia/Pearisburg, VA/Giles VA) won the ball in the Concord end, then led a trio of Mountain Lions in a counterattack that covered nearly the entire length of the field. Varney finished off the rush to score with just 1:08 remaining in regulation.
“That was a very smart play by Varney,” Barrett said. “We had three men behind them on the attack, but if he passes the ball it would be offside. He knew enough to hang on to it, and the way he finished … well, that’s the forward’s life, isn’t it?”
Concord outshot Ohio Valley 17-6 and had a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.
The Mountain Lions’ next match will be Saturday, September 19, against Pitt-Johnstown. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 pm EDT at Anderson Field.