FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – For the second consecutive match, senior midfielder
Sebastian Kadlof found the back of the net for Eastern Connecticut State University Men's Soccer, helping the Warriors get back in the win column after their loss to Emerson College at home on Thursday, 2-1, on the road against Farmingdale State University on Sunday. Sophomore midfielder
Christian Moura's goal in the 66th minute would turn out to be the difference maker in the win, with the Rams getting one back shortly after his score.
Kadlof's first-half goal, the third of the season for the senior, came in the 32nd minute of action as a pass attempt from junior midfielder Sebastian Cuenca was quelled in the Warriors' defensive zone by first-year midfielder
Aidan Vieira. Vieira kicked the ball ahead to first-year forward
Cameron Zingle, who was just able to keep the ball from going out of play, volleying it ahead to Kadlof near midfield.
With plenty of grass in front of him, Kadlof took the ball all the way near the box, dancing around a couple of Ram defenders, and firing from just outside the box into the top right side of the goal mouth. The goal was one of four shots on goal that Eastern had in the opening 45 minutes out of their five total shots, giving junior goalkeeper Andrew Verdugo three saves.
Meanwhile, Farmingdale State's offense kept junior goalkeeper
Jack Harmon plenty busy, forcing him to make six first-half saves, three of which came off the foot of sophomore midfielder Josue Corea. Entering the day, Corea had just two total shots, neither of which were on goal, before having five total shots in 45 minutes of first-half play. In all, the Rams used just two subs: Cuenca, who had two shots on goal in 22 minutes, and junior forward Roobens Celine for 13 minutes, while the offense totaled nine shots overall.
After a relatively quiet first 20 minutes of the second half, which saw neither team record a shot on goal until the 64th minute when senior defender
Noah Page was stopped by Verdugo, each side would score within 41 seconds of each other in the 66th minute. It started with the Warriors getting what would be a huge insurance goal on a cross pass from first-year forward
Colin Marshall to Moura.
Verdugo would jump out of the goal looking to make a stop, but the ball would end up skipping out of his hands and onto the foot of Moura, who chipped it into the left side of the goal, increasing the Warriors' lead to two. That two-goal advantage was short-lived with Corea teaming up with sophomore forward Lucca Noboa on an offensive zone cross-pass that Noboa was just able to chip on net past the outstretched arms of first-year goalkeeper
Marek Nardi, who played the second half, cutting the lead back down to one, 2-1.
From there, a stalemate would ensue once more until the 77th minute, when Noboa snuck into some open space on the left side of the net behind the Warrior defense. The forward would fire at Nardi, looking to catch him going to his left, but the junior would extend his arm and deflect the shot away to keep the one-goal lead for Eastern.
That would end up being the final shot on goal for either team as the Warriors came away with the 2-1 win behind a six-save effort from Harmon, and one save from Nardi. For the Rams' Verdugo, he took the loss in goal, allowing both goals and making three saves in the process, but despite his team holding an 8-6 advantage in shots on goal, it was the Warriors in control of the corners, 9-2, and overall shots, 16-14.
Before a three-game road trip beginning next weekend, Eastern Connecticut State University returns home to face U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday night at Rick McCarthy Field with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 PM. Last season, the Warriors fell on the road to the Bears by a 2-1 final and will be looking for their first win against them since 2015, as the head-to-head was revived back in 2024.
