Freshman Bryan Merlos (Harrison, N.Y.) finished with a pair of goals as the Manhattanville men’s soccer team breezed by the College of Staten Island, 7-0, on Monday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
The Valiants scored in the first minute of regulation, after a take down in the six-yard box allowed junior Keston George (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago) to score his third penalty kick goal of the season and seventh overall tally. Manhattanville had consecutive opportunities in the 20th minute, but a pair of shots rung off the post as the Valiants ripped 11 shots at El-Ghareib in the half.
The Valiants took a two-goal lead in the 30th minute as senior Jeferson Echeverria (Islip, N.Y.)knocked in his own rebound in front of the net. The home team added another tally 1:23 later as junior Emil Sjoberg (Stockholm, Sweden) scored his third goal of the season off a beautiful cross from sophomore Erick Olazabal (Milton, Ontario) to inside the six-yard box allowing Sjoberg to finish the play. Olazabal added his second assist of the night a minute later as he found classmate Marco Blasetti (Yonkers, N.Y.) with a nice serve on a corner kick. Blasetti netted his first of the season after he volleyed at the back post to give the Valiants a four-goal lead and three goals in a span of 2:51.
The Valiants added to their lead late in the first half, as Olazabal added his third helper of the contest with another cross from the left end line that was redirected by Merlos inside the box. Mville finished the half with a 25-0 edge in shots as senior netminder Jason Torres (Harrison, N.Y.) was not needed in the first half and the Dolphins barely got the ball over the timeline.
Manhattanville added two more goals in the second half, to take the seven-goal lead. Sophomore Moshee Kelyana (Scarborough, Ontario) found a diving head of senior Mitchel Ghiggia (Port Chester, N.Y.) for his second goal of the season. The Valiants capped off the win with their final goal of the night by Merlos as his cross went through El-Ghareib on the far side.
Manhattanville goaltending was not asked to do much in the contest as Torres split time with freshman Zach Benton (Houston, Texas) splitting the shutout. Dolphin’s netminder El-Ghareib made 20 saves in the loss.
Manhattanville (8-4-1, 2-1-1 Freedom) will be back in action under the lights on Wednesday as they travel to FDU-Florham for a 7 p.m. start. Staten Island (3-10-2, 3-4-1 CUNYAC) will meet City Tech on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.