Junior Sean Bliss netted his first goal of the season as the Ducks defated the Merchant Marine Academy. |
HOBOKEN, N.J. (October 13, 2006) – The No. 6 Stevens Institute of Technology men’s soccer team handed the United States Merchant Marine Academy its first conference loss of the season and extended its Skyline Conference unbeaten streak to 37 games with a 3-0 victory at DeBaun Field on Friday night. With the win, the Ducks ran their overall record to 10-0-2 and improved to 4-0 in the conference, while the Mariners fell to 11-2-1 and 7-1 in the league with the loss.
Stevens got on the board just under three minutes into the game with junior defender Sean Bliss (Phoenix, Ariz.) registering his first goal of the season. Bliss cut through the Merchant Marine defense and sent a left-footed shot to the lower left corner past senior goalkeeper Joseph Halverson (San Antonio, Texas) to give the Ducks an early 1-0 lead.
In the 25th minute, junior forward Mike Kaiser (Roy, Utah) extended the Ducks’ lead to 2-0 off a corner kick by junior midfielder Craig Moquin (Breinigsville, Pa.). Moquin’s pass found senior defender Nick Gkionis (Jackson, N.J.) in front of the net and Gkionis headed the ball across to Kaiser who netted his second goal of the season on the play.
Stevens nearly put a third goal on the board in the first half when Gkionis headed a pass off the crossbar from the left side with 13 minutes remaining in the period. Stevens dominated play in the first half as it out-shot the Mariners 7-2.
Freshman forward Terrance Johnson (Slidell, La.) put the game away with under 10 minutes remaining when he cut across the center of the field and sent a shot to the lower right corner of the goal. The tally marked his team-leading 10th of the season.
Stevens goalkeeper senior Chris Celentano (Newton, N.J.) made four saves, while Halverson made three for the Mariners.
Stevens out-shot the Merchant Marine 15-9 in the game. However, the Mariners held a 6-4 advantage in corners. The game was very physical as USMMA registered two yellows and a red card in the game. The Mariners also had 18 fouls to just three by Stevens.
The game was webcasted and will be available in the DuckCast archive on Monday afternoon. Fans can visit www.duckcast.com to watch the game.
Stevens will return to action on Monday when it hosts the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 7 p.m. at DeBaun Field
