Monmouth Defeats Iona 2-1 in Men's Soccer Semifinal Round
MAAC Sports
HAMDEN, CONN. – Number four seed Monmouth defeated number two seed Iona in the first semifinal game of the 2014 MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship at Quinnipiac Field on the campus of Quinnipiac University.
A very physical first half, led to a scoreless period before halftime. The Gaels outshot the Hawks 10-9, although neither team could get the ball into the goal. Both defense’s played strong throughout the half. The second half saw more scoring as the Hawks got out to a one goal lead just over one minute into the half. Matt Jeffery, the 2014 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, headed in a goal off a corner kick coming from fellow defender Derek Luke for the score. Both teams continued to chip away until the 64th minute when the Hawks added to their lead with the second goal of the game. Monmouth freshman Andrew Gee scored on a pass from Bryant Avalos to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. The scoring would not end there as Iona’s Teddy Forson would score to bring the Gaels within a goal. In the 77th minute Forson took the ball and kicked it to the far post past the Monmouth keeper for the unassisted score. Monmouth’s defense would prevail and lead the Hawks to the win. The Gaels’ Michael Holzer, Ignacio Maganto, Luis Mendoza and Alex Ramos each took four shots to lead, with Ramos having two shots reach net. The Hawks Dom Sarle led his team with five shots.
The team’s controlled even possession through much of the match, with the Iona controlling the majority of the possession in the second half. The Gaels outshoot the Hawks 24-16 in the contest. Iona was able to put seven shots on goal in the match to Monmouth’s eight. Iona goalkeeper Julian Petrello had six saves, while Hawk’s goalkeeper Eric Klenofsky also made six saves to mark his 10th win of the season.
Iona concluded its season at 9-7-3 overall.
Monmouth, now 10-3-6 on the year, earns a spot in the championship game on Sunday, November 16 at Quinnipiac University. They will face either top seed Quinnipiac University or six seed Fairfield University. The MAAC championship game will be broadcast live on MAAC.TV.. The winner of the 2014 MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship will earn the MAAC's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship.
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