Golden Eagles soar into new season with a win
- sregm12
- 14 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By: Sharvani Regmi
BROCKPORT, N.Y. -- Brockport's season opener against the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) took place under the lights at A. Huntley Parker Jr. Field in Brockport, N.Y. as part of the Doug May Memorial Game. Brockport secured a narrow 1-0 win against RIT scored by senior Peter Tinaj in the 51st minute assisted by freshman Parker Warren.
“I felt great scoring the goal,” said Tinaj. “The energy people brought from the bench since the first half, everyone just completely brought all the energy. Parker played a great ball, and the defense was caught sleeping. They stopped moving and I found the pocket of space and hit the shot right above the keeper. It felt good to celebrate with the coaches and the team after everything we have gone through so far.”
The match was tightly contested between the Golden Eagles and the Tigers. The game featured seven yellow cards, three for the Golden Eagles, reflecting the physical intensity and competitiveness in the game.
Nine players made their college debut against RIT. Freshman Jadin Lyle, Warren, freshman Ryan Mathis, sophomore Matthew Sandison, senior Jayden Green, freshman Jaidyn Caccomo, freshman Elyes Bouchik, freshman Arthur Barrozo-Ferna, and sophomore Ricky Campos made their debut.
“You have to start with Parker in the back as a center back,” said head coach Gary LaPietra. “That’s his first start and he played a tremendous game. Even Sandison, even though he is not a freshman, that was his first career start, he played a great game. Mathis was great up top. We had Jaidyn and Arthur come off the bench. They are quality players, and they are not afraid of the moment.”
Sandison made his first career start against RIT and maintained a clean sheet. Despite being a part of the team last season, he had to stay out due to injury. He made five major saves despite RIT’s 15 shot attempts.
“First 10 minutes, probably first half was a lot of nerves, just to wear that off and get into a flow state, just kind of calm down and play,” said Sandison. “I kept it consistent; I kept it clean and ended up with zero balls at the end of the net. With no returning keepers that played last season, I had that mentality to come in and just make that number one spot mine.”
RIT had 15 shots on goal while Brockport managed to attempt only four shots throughout the game with just one-shot attempt in the second half. The tigers were able to win four corner kicks whereas the Golden Eagles did not get any corner kicks awarded in the game.
“It’s the camaraderie and the brotherhood,” said LaPietra. “You heard the bench how much fun they were having. It’s about having fun. They brought that energy tonight, and we just played off each other.”
Brockport begins the season 1–0–0, while RIT falls to 0–1–0. The Golden Eagles will look to build on the momentum as they prepare for their next fixture which will be played on home turf against University of Rochester on Wednesday, September 3. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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