Ruiz Records Double in Men’s Soccer’s Loss to Western Conn.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Western Conn. St. (1-1-0, 0-0-0) | 3 | 2 | 5 |
|
St. Joseph's (L.I.) (0-2-0, 0-0-0) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)
Patchogue, NY| Despite a two-goal, five-point performance from sophomore forward Rayneri Ruiz, the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's soccer team dropped a 5-3 decision to Western Connecticut State in a wild affair at Danzi Stadium on Tuesday evening.
With the loss the Golden Eagles slide to 0-2 on the year as the Colonials improve to 1-1.
Western Connecticut's Darion Richeme opened the scoring in the 10th minute when he buried a loose ball at the top of SJC's box. Nearly 10 minutes later, senior Chance Casey brought the Golden Eagles level with he took a long pass from Ruiz, slid past the Colonials' keeper and slotted the ball into an empty net for his first goal of the season.
Tallies by Robert Della Penna (26') and Shane Bierfeldt (36') ensured Western Connecticut took a 3-1 lead into the break, and an additional pair inside the opening half hour of the second--off the feet of Nick Kyriakidis (69') and Chauncey Allers (70')--put the guests up a four spot (5-1).
In the 78th minute, Ruiz got one back for the hosts when he dodged the Western Connecticut keeper in a 1v1 situation and tallied into an empty net in very similar fashion to Casey in the 20th minute.
The forward picked up a second tally in the 80th minute when he took advantage of a dropped ball by the keeper to ensure a two-goal defeat (5-3).
In his second-career start, Steven Deng made five saves in the SJC goal. Three separate keepers appeared for the Colonials, including Luca Dicarlo, who made two saves on three shots in the first half.
The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, September 9 when they kick off the SJC Invitational Tournament with a 12:00 pm match vs. William Paterson. Live video and stats for the entire tournament available here.
