Men’s Soccer Falls 2-0

By Jimmy Cassidy

The Catholic University of America’s men’s soccer team was defeated 2-0 by the University of Mary Washington Eagles on Wednesday at CUA.  The Cards were blanked for the second time this season, and they drop to 1-3 in the young 2015 season.  The Eagles continue their red-hot start, moving to 4-0 on the year.
CUA seemed to control the pace of the game in the first ten minutes or so, recording the first two shots of the match.  A turnover and defensive miscommunication resulted in an easy one-on-one finish for Mary Washington, as they found the back of the net in the 14th minute.  The 1-0 lead did not last for a long time on the scoreboard, as a quick counter-attack led to another goal for the Eagles in the 19th minute.  The Cards quickly found themselves in a 2-0 hole in a matter of minutes.  The attack did not let up from the opposition, as Catholic was outshot 10-5 in the first half of the contest.  Junior goalkeeper Zachery Tashjy came out from between the goal posts to make a number of saves to keep the game close.  The horn sounded to end the first 45 minutes of the match with the CUA down 2-0.
The team fought hard to get chances on goal, but Mary Washington withstood most of the attacks. Senior captain Tyler Zimmerman led the offensive effort with four shots with two on goal.  Sophomore Nick Joesten made several runs down the wings to find open space, and took three shots of his own.  Tashjy made 11 saves of the Eagles’ 13 strikes on goal in his second career start in goal.  Catholic made a good amount of substitutions to find an effective lineup, but no combination seemed to make a spark. The Cards took nine shots to the Eagles’ seven in the second half, but only managed to put five of them on goal in the entire match.  The clean sheet remained intact, and the Cardinals fell 2-0.
The team took the loss from a hot team, and the season continues. There are more chances to get in form before Landmark Conference play begins against Elizabethtown on September 19th.  The club will face the Washington and Lee Generals in Lexington, Virginia, Saturday, September 12th before returning home Tuesday, September 15th to play Ursinus at 4 PM.