The College of Staten Island opened their 2017 campaign this afternoon against Wisconsin-Platteville as part of the annual CSI Fall Classic held at Staten Island. The Dolphins’ opener didn’t go as planned as the visiting Pioneers took three points from the Dolphins with a 2-0 win. The Pioneers, who were playing their second game of the season, improved to 1-1 overall while knocking the Dolphins down to 0-1.
The first half was dominated early on by the Pioneers by the Pioneers as the Dolphins were still working through their opening game jitters. The Dolphins would settle down and show glimpses of what they really can do. However, the Pioneers were already in full swing and were able to stifle any offensive the momentum the Dolphins were able to drum up.
Ryan Layman would have a good chance on net which would force goalkeeper Nate Miller to make a save to keep a zero up on the scoreboard. The Dolphins would be outshot in the first half 5-1, with Layman’s attempt being the lone opportunity. The first half was about each team feeling each other out before heading into the second half. First year keeper Balint Barabas played well for the Dolphins in the first half and made all the right decision when coming off of his line.
Miguel Morales and Wilson Quintero played well in their collegiate debut, showing they deserved to play for Staten Island after shutting down the early waves of attacks by the Pioneers. Another freshman that stepped up this afternoon was center defensive midfielder Joel Morales as he won a majority of 50/50 balls and made the right passes.
As the first half came to a close the Dolphins had their play moving in the right direction before it was held up by the whistle. To start the second half they came out strong putting pressure on the back line of the Pioneers, even forcing Miller to make another diving save after Dardan Nika cannoned off a shot from 25 yards out. The Dolphins lost momentum and the game turned into how the Pioneers wanted to play and paid off.
A brace by Logan Rinderknecht sealed the deal after his first goal came in the 65th minute when a free kick came in and he was able to put his head to it and knock it off the crossbar. Rinderknecht would follow the rebound to knock it in for the game’s first goal. That goal knocked the wind out of the Dolphins sails as they were starting to put some of the pieces to the puzzle together.
Wisconsin-Platteville kept the pressure on Staten Island and made sure to win every second ball to make sure the Dolphins couldn’t mount a comeback. Rinderknecht would seal the deal with another goal late in the second half. With just 9 minutes remaining in the game the Dolphins would lose the ball in their final third which led to Jake Stevens sending in a low hard cross to Rinderkncht who was able to tap it in for his second and the game’s second goal of the game.
The Dolphins will look to rebound tomorrow against St. Joseph’s College – Brooklyn at 11:00am which will end the CSI Fall Classic as the Gothic Knights from New Jersey City University won both their games and will earn the trophy for a second year in a row.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW
