Posted: Oct 05, 2013
The Johnson & Wales University men's soccer team defeated Suffolk, 2-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at Scotts Miracle-Gro Outdoor Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon. The win prolongs the Wildcats undefeated streak to 11 games, the longest stretch to start a season in school history.
Suffolk got on the board first 23 minutes into the game when a long strike by Alberto Benhamu (Caracas, Venezuela) from 35 yards out sailed over the keeper's head and into the back of the net. After some chippy play by both teams, the Wildcats responded with four minutes left in the half. A goal kick by the Rams was headed by junior Kyle Metz (St. James, N.Y.) and led classmate O'Kyle Corridon (Selden, N.Y.) up field on a clean break for the net. Corridon sent it over the keepers left shoulder and into the corner of the net to knot the game at 1-1. Both teams went into the locker room with nine shots apiece.
Twenty minutes into the second half the Wildcats capitalized on a foul just outside of the box. Corridon ran over the ball and left it for freshman Xavier Carty (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) to blast one to the lower left corner giving JWU the one goal advantage. Suffolk's big chance to tie the game came in the 81st minute when Benhamu sprinted into the box and struck a shot off of Ryan Dzierzawski (Oakland, Mich.) that was then deflected away. The Wildcats possessed the ball for the better part of the last five minutes and secured the 2-1 victory.
JWU junior keeper Dzierzawski had seven saves for the Wildcats while junior Nicholas Chamma (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) tallied 11 stops for Suffolk.
With the Johnson & Wales improves now 9-0-2 for the season and 2-0-2 in the GNAC while Suffolk falls to 3-7 on the year and 1-3 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday, October 9th when they host University of New England in a non-conference contest at 6:00 p.m.
(Story courtesy of Johnson & Wales University Sports Information)