Knights Drop Aggressive Battle with Lynx
PK sparks 3-2 victory for NHTI
NHTI's Nick Geddes (Senior, Manchester, NH) scored on a dribbler that barely made it past the goal line at 7:15 in the second half to secure a 3-2 victory over the host Vermont Tech Men's Soccer team. The goal was the culmination a hard-fought, physical game that saw many warnings, two yellow cards, one red card and three penalty kicks.
The first half saw only one goal, and that came at the 11:01 mark when NHTI Freshman Matthew Fauci (Somersworth, NH) connected on a PK that was a result of a player being taken down in the box. While the action was constant and tough, the rest of the scoring was saved for the second half.
At 38:28 in the second, Junior Forward Matt Golden (Lisbon, NH) landed the ball in the back of the net to tie the score at 1. Fourteen minutes later Sophomore Forward Hannes Fisher-Byrne (Strafford, VT) propelled the Green Knights in front of the Lynx with a goal set up by a beautiful pass from Sophomore Midfielder Kyle Birchmore (Vergennes, VT). Shortly thereafter the NHTI goal keeper earned a yellow card that resulted in a penatly kick for the Knights. Unfortunately, Golden missed an excellent opportunity wide left and the score remained 2-1 in favor of VTC. NHTI took advantage of the miscue, tying the game only a minute later on a kick that was simply out of reach for the VTC net minder, Senior Alex Bertaeu (Milton, VT).
Once the score was tied, action vehemently picked up with both sides becoming more physical, each badly desiring to win the game. At 17:58 Sophomore Defender Ramsey Allen (Sheldon, VT) garnered a red card and expulsion from the game for taking down an NHTI forward from behind in the box on a clear scoring opportunity. Freshman Trevor Carignan (Derry, NH) lined up for the PK, but Bertaeu made a sprawling save, one of eleven on the day, that kept the score tied at two. The joy on the Green Knights sideline, however, was short lived as Geddes scored at the mark 7:15 to make the final 3-2 in favor of NHTI.
NHTI's record now stands at 4-3, 3-0, while VTC is 2-5, 2-3. NHTI next hosts Dean College in a non-conference battle on Sunday, 9/25 at 1pm. The Green Knights are on the road for their next match, facing SUNY-Canton at 3pm on Saturday, September 24.
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