KINGSTON, RI — The Iona University men's soccer team opened the 2025 season on the road a 2-2 draw at University of Rhode Island on Thursday night. The Gaels twice held the lead in the back-and-forth second half affair at URI Soccer Complex but were unable to withstand a late charge to knot the game up.
Junior
Calle Sjoberg in his first game with the Maroon & Gold broke open the scoring in the 55
th minute for the first goal of the season. Graduate student
Storm Schmidt Hollensted scored the second goal of the night off the assist by graduate student
Chris Morandi in the 68
th minute. Sophomore
Fernando Alves Schmelz made four saves in goal for the Gaels.
GAME SUMMARY
In the first contest of the season both teams were looking to find their footing in the opening 10 minutes of action. Iona got rolling shortly after as graduate student
Yannik Vogel fired the first shot attempt of the game in the 11
th minute with a strike from 25-yards out that sailed high over the crossbar.
From there the Maroon & Gold continued to push the pace, firing six more shots in the opening half. The Gaels twice had looks on target as a breakaway attempt down the right side by freshman
Andrey Mora Bravo was knocked down by URI keeper Lenno Schimdt in the 24
th minute. Later in the 42
nd minute, a sweeping free kick from junior
Calle Sjoberg from way out was punched away by Schmidt.
The Iona defense while facing constant pressure from the Rams attack did not surrender a shot attempt in the first 45 minutes. A physical opening half saw 14 fouls and three yellow cards.
URI looked to flip momentum out of the restart, firing its first three shot attempts of the game in the first five minutes of the second half. Sophomore
Fernando Alves Schmelz made his first save of the game in the 46
th minute of action.
Iona finally mounted an attack in the 55
th minute as Sjoberg picked up the ball just inside the Rams half. He took three dribbled and rifled a right footed shot to the lower left corner from 30-yards out past the URI keeper who was screened by his back line for the 1-0 Iona advantage.
URI worked the ball into the Iona end five minutes later. A charge down the right side by Sinan Bruning saw Schmelz make his second save of the game in the 63
rd minute. The rebound kicked right back to Bruning for a cross to Daniel Goba for the chip in shot to knot the game up at 1-1.
The Gaels didn't back down, mounting an attack down the left side in the 68
th minute as Morandi sent in a centering pass just inside the 18-yard box. The pass was deflected by a Rams defender as Hollensted made the charge and rifled a one-timer dead center and into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead.
URI looked to tie things up again in the 79
th minute with a laser strike from 30-yards out but Schmelz was there to punch the ball over the crossbar. As the game entered the final five minutes, the Rams once again worked the ball into the Iona end. A long throw in towards the center of the box saw the Gaels defense block the shot attempt. The rebound went out to the right just outside the 18-yard box and the one-timer from Parker Vasic found the back left corner of the net to knot the game up at 2-2 in the 85
th minute.
With momentum on its side, URI looked to make one last charge in the 89
th minute but Schmelz was there to make his final save of the night to preserve the tie.
TEAM STATS
- After Iona held a 7-0 first half advantage on shots, URI out shot Iona 14-3 in the second half for a 14-10 margin. The home team held a 6-4 advantage for shots on goal.
- The Rams held a 5-2 margin for corner kick attempts
- Iona made four saves while URI made two stops
- A physical game saw 27 fouls and three first-half yellow cards
UP NEXT
The Gaels travel to Villanova on Thursday, August 28 for a noon matchup at Higgins Soccer Complex.
