HOBOKEN, N.J. – Matthew Murillo buried a penalty kick goal for the Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team in a 1-1 draw with Alvernia Wednesday evening from DeBaun Athletic Complex in the Ducks' non-conference regular season finale.
Stevens (3-2-6) gave many of its regulars the day off, with nine players making their first, second, or third start of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Even with most of the usual field rotation sitting out, the Ducks created plenty of opportunities in the opening half, generating seven corners and 10 shot attempts.
The Ducks had multiple looks blocked in the early going, the most noteworthy coming in the 27
th minute when
Ryan O'Byrne had a look on the doorstep deflected aside.
In the 36
th minute,
Joseph Conte dribbled into the box and found space, but Alvernia's goalkeeper Evan Solley went low to make the save. In the 44
th minute,
Jordan Herrera had a look at the top corner from a tough angle deflected over the crossbar.
Nick Lapczynski had a strong look at cracking the scoresheet in the 52
nd minute when he dribbled to the top of the 18-yard box and fired a left-footed effort that Solley left his feet and went full extension to knock away.
Just shy of the hour mark,
Alejandro Alvarado drew a foul in the box, setting up a penalty kick opportunity that Murillo buried inside the right post past a diving effort from Solley. Just over 10 minutes later, Alvarado had a clean look inside the box but curved one just over the crossbar by the right post.
Christian DeOliveira had a twisting, bouncing effort bound for net before Solley, leaning the other way, just managed to turn back in time to get a hand on it, keeping the Golden Wolves just a goal back.
After two more Solley saves, Alvernia took advantage of their keeper's efforts, equalizing off a long free kick played into the box and headed home.
Francesco Bonavita had the last Stevens shot of the match and nearly made it a memorable one, but Solley went airborne and got enough of the first-year's 25-yard strike to keep it out of the back of the net.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Murillo's goal was his second of the year, giving Stevens seven players with at least two goals, three of them first-years or sophomores (Murillo, Lucas Mendes, Emerson Kekesi)
- Alvarado, Chayse Stolarski, Nick Lapczynski, Anthony Nielsen, Dion Ramani, and goalkeeper Aden Parikh all made their first starts of the season – Alvarado, Nielsen, and Parikh made the first starts of their Stevens careers; Sean Rogers also made his first appearance as a Duck
- Murillo and Alvarado each had a team and match-high three shots
UP NEXT
The Ducks host Arcadia on Saturday, October 18, at 5:00 PM in the first of five straight Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom matches to close the regular season.
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