The Quinnipiac men’s soccer team handed Mount St. Mary’s a 3-0 defeat today with first-career goals for freshman defender Erik Panzer and sophomore forward Machel Baker.
In the win, sophomore goalkeeper Borja Angoitia recorded his second consecutive shutout, the first time the team has done so since 2010.
“It feels great,” he said. “It was hard to get two in a row because we got one (shutout) against Sacred Heart but we gave away two (goals) against Brooklyn.”
The first Quinnipiac (6-5-2, 4-1-1 NEC) goal came 34 minutes into the first half when junior midfielder Sam Nicol played a beautiful cross off a free kick to freshman defender Erik Panzer for the first goal of the game.
Less than five minutes into the second half, freshman Stevenson Hawkey found Baker on a perfectly placed cross to increase the lead to 2-0.
“It was a fantastic ball by Steven,” Baker said. “To be honest, I never had to do much. When we went two up, that just eased the tension, eased the pressure on the whole team so we could stick to the task and do what we were supposed to do.”
Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa agreed with Baker saying how important the additional goals were allowing the team to play more relaxed.
Eight minutes after the Panzer goal, midfielder Simon Hinde headed a goal kick to senior forward Philip Suprise who then put it past the keeper, giving him seven goals on the season, tying his career-high. The Mountaineers made a final push but could not yield any results.
The beginning of the game was back-and-forth with Quinnipiac frequently mishandling the ball. However, the Mountaineers (3-12, 1-7 NEC) could not overcome the Quinnipiac back-line which (with the help of Angoitia) denied three first-half corner kicks and all other scoring attempts.
Quinnipiac plays Saint Francis (Pa.) on the road on Friday, Oct. 26, the furthest distance game of the year.
“Those trips are never easy…The psychology of sitting in a bus for eight hours I don’t think is ever easy,” Da Costa said, referencing the impact of the long trip. “We will just make sure that we are very diligent on our details this week.”
