BURLINGTON, VT — The Iona University men's soccer team fell to Vermont, 5-0, in the opening round of the NCAA Championship on a cold and rainy Thursday night. The Gaels' offense could not get rolling, while the Catamounts executed well in the poor weather. The Gaels chances included a team save off the goal line and a disallowed goal following an offside call.
MATCH SUMMARY
From the opening kick, both teams exchanged attacks. The Catamounts found themselves strong chances off multiple corner kick attempts inside the opening ten minutes of the game.
The Gaels' first outstanding chance came in the 14th minute when freshman
Bautista Rossi found the rebound of freshman
Alvaro Maneiro's blocked shot. The attempt was saved off the line by a Vermont defender.
A few minutes later, the home team broke the ice with an outside the box strike from David Ismail past the dive of junior goalkeeper
Loukas Georgiou, putting Iona in a 1-0 hole early in the match.
Ismail almost found the net again in the 22nd
minute but smashed it off the crossbar and cleared away to keep Gaels' deficit at one goal.
After a few more attacks, Iona earned a free kick deep in their offensive half. Senior
Tim Timchenko headed it into the back of the net and while the Gaels thought to have equalized, the linesman raised his flag for offside.
The first half came to a close, and Vermont out shot Iona, 12-3. and led in corners 6-0.
Coming out of the break, the Catamounts were very ready to strike. Nineteen seconds in, Yaniv Bazini found the back of the net and extended the lead to 2-0.
In the 55th minute, Bazini struck again, with a back heel kick past the diving Georgiou to make it 3-0 for the home team.
Vermont again found back of the net in the 70th minute on a strike by Ryan Zellefrow and extended the lead to 4-0, essentially ended all chances of a Gaels' comeback.
Iona had a few more chances as the game dragged on. Graduate
Elird Mero had his shot blocked in the six-yard box and junior
Sergio Gonzalez Fernandez had a few good looks, but the Maroon & Gold could not crack the Vermont defense or keeper Niklas Herceg.
In the closing minutes of the game, the Catamounts tacked on a fifth goal to close out the scoring.
The scoreline is the furthest reflection of how the Gaels played. As for the team, the seven graduating seniors will certainly be missed for their impact and value they brought to the team.
TEAM STATS
- Vermont held a 20-12 advantage on shots for the game with a 7-4 total for shots on goal.
- Georgiou and Iona made two saves while Vermont made four.
- The Catamounts led the Gaels on corner kicks with a 7-3 margin for the game.
END OF SEASON REVIEW
The Gaels 2024 season comes to a heartbreaking close in Burlington, ending with an 11-5-3 overall record. It was Iona's second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament following its first in 2019.. It was also the 11th time Iona has reached double-digit wins in a season.
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