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Men’s Soccer Brings Home ECC Trophy

Cecilie Nag

The C.W. Post Men’s Soccer Team bounced back after losing its first game of the season on October 18th, against Nyack College. After a 3-1 victory against Queens College, the Pioneers’ overall record is now 13-1-1.

Away against the Nyack Warriors, the Pioneers suffered their first defeat in a game consisting of long passes and not much play. The Pioneers, who are used to getting chances after ground-plays and shorter passes, struggled with adapting to an uneven field. With no goals in the first half, Nyack left the field as the controlling team.

The Pioneers fought back and started the second half with a couple of scoring chances, but with no luck putting the ball in the net. After Nyack scored the only goal of the match, the Warriors stood their ground and closed the Pioneers down in their attempt to change the score. With a 1-0 loss, the Pioneers’ record was moved to 12-1-1, putting pressure on the Pioneers leading into the following game.

“We went to Nyack to try to play them out of the park, but we were not successful in doing that. We used over one half to read the surface and their playing style before we started to fight and play longer balls… just a bad showing from us,” said sophomore captain Eirik Bjornoe.

The win of the ECC regular season was secured with a win against Queens College on Saturday. “Given the loss on Tuesday, we had to come together as a team for the game against Queens,” said sophomore goalkeeper Marco Jorgensen. “I think everyone on the team felt the importance of the game more as a joy than [as] a pressure,” said Jorgensen, describing the team spirit that has led to 12 wins out of 14 possible games.

The Pioneers have suffered a habit of letting in the first goals during several matches in the season, and against Queens College, history repeated itself. After 35 minutes, Queens scored first and took a 1-0 lead. It was another game with a difficult field, making it tough for the Pioneers to continue with their usual style of play. Queens put up a great performance with an energy level and a determination that prevented the Pioneers from making any good plays.

Entering the field in the second half, the Pioneers were eager to bring home the trophy. With one player on each team suspended, the temperature increased, as there was more room to play. After 67 minutes, sophomore forward Cemil Turan scored with a header after a cross from junior midfielder Andreas Olsen. Later, Olsen followed up with the good play, scoring on a 12-yard shot,  giving C.W. Post a 2-1 lead. But, the Pioneers did not settle yet. Two minutes before the end of the match, freshman midfielder Henrik Idsoe served freshman forward Eivind Austboe with a brilliant pass, leading to  3-1 after a fantastic shot, leaving the ECC trophy in the hands of the Pioneers.

“As with the game against Nyack, the field in Queens didn’t really invite the teams to play on the ground,” said Jorgensen. “Therefore, once again, it became a game of battle more than anything else. Good fight combined with some good individual performances did, however, make sure that this one was a win instead of a loss.”

Captain Bjornoe was pleased to see that Olsen continued to score goals, along with the two forwards Turan and Austboe, and is confident that if they keep up with their scoring frequency, the Pioneers will have a good shot at the ECC Tournament Championship. “I’m extremely proud of the team after Saturday’s game. It was hard, both mentally and physically, to take home the ECC Trophy, but we succeeded because we stood together and turned the game around in the second half,” said Bjornoe. “Before we started the season, we had three goals: to win three trophies. Now, we won the first one. The ECC regular season and ECC Tournament Championship are the next big goals.”

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