By Joseph Caruso
Sports Editor
The College played two tough opponents, earning a draw against both Stevens and Arcadia, respectively.
The College went into the weekend riding high, having rattled off four straight wins in dominating fashion, beating opponents by a combined score of 19-1.
On Saturday, the College traveled to Hoboken to take on a tough Stevens team, which had not lost in any of its previous three contests, boasting a stifling defense of its own.
The Lions were immediately aggressive, putting pressure on the Stevens defense with a scoring chance from junior Matias Hornos less than ten minutes into the game, which was barely prevented.
That was the best chance the Lions had for a while, as they were outshot significantly by the Ducks, who had five shots to just two for the College in the first half, and outshot them 15 to eight for the whole game. After some more back and forth, the first half concluded with neither team having registered a goal.
The second half started with a bang, as junior Chris Meder set up freshman Matt Will, who buried the chance just 26 seconds into the half.
The College continued to apply pressure, with consecutive scoring chances minutes later, but was denied repeatedly by a bend-don’t-break Stevens defense.
After multiple good stops from the Lions, the Ducks finally broke through to tie the game on a header at the 79:20 mark, evening the score at one a piece. The College had a few more decent chances, but was unable to convert as the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
On Wednesday night, the College was back home hosting an Arcadia squad that had three wins to just one loss.
Similar to the first game, the College was outshot by its opponent, as the Knights had 11 shots to eight for the Lions, two of which were on goal for each team.
While this game was lacking offensive power, it was also lacking power, as Lions Stadium temporarily experienced a power outage, which caused the game to pause briefly during the second half.
After resumption, Arcadia continued to hammer shots, with nine of their 11 in the second half. With that being said, the College continued to stand strong as its defense did not allow a goal, and the contest ended with a second straight draw for the Lions, ending 0-0.
On the bright side, the College’s new look defense has completely baffled their opponents, now having allowed just two goals in six games. This is a huge development for the Lions, who now stand second in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, just behind Rowan University.
This will be the final week before the College starts NJAC play, and they have thrust themselves into a great position under first-year coach Steve DeMatteo.
Now in their final two matchups of non-conference play, the College will face DeSales and Keystone, respectively, first facing off against DeSales on Saturday, Sept. 20.
