The College of Staten Island men’s soccer team squandered their chance at the CUNYAC regular season title this afternoon after falling to league-leading Lehman College, 1-0. The Dolphins have now lost three straight to the Lightning, a streak that began last season. The loss drops the Dolphins to 9-5-1 (4-3 CUNYAC) while the Lightning improved to 10-3-1 (7-0 CUNYAC).
The Dolphins came out strong in the first half, keeping the ball on Lehman’s side of the field for a majority of the half. Staten Island was able to rifle off their fair share of shots, however, none of the shots threatened the keeper. CUNYAC’s leading goal scorer Salh Alzubidi nearly put Lehman ahead in the first half, despite being outshot 11-5, when he hit his shot off of the near post.
The men would threaten a few times with set pieces just outside the 18-yard box, however, Dardan Nika and Adrian Cosovic would send the ball over the goal and out of bounds.
In the second half Lehman started to gain momentum as they began to find kinks in the Dolphins’ back line. The Lightning would strike in the 69th minute when Alzubidi received a pass from Shevante Scott and was able to shield off the defender and curl one under an outstretched Balint Barabas for his 14th goal of the season.
The play would go back-and-forth with neither team garnering a quality chance on net. As time fell below the five-minute mark CSI started to bring everyone into the attack and it almost paid off. The Dolphins had a few chances the could have had found their way into the back of the net, however, they just bounced harmlessly inside the box. The Dolphins’ full out attack was not enough to level the score as the Dolphins would drop their third CUNYAC game of the season.
Staten Island returns to action on Wednesday, October 18 when they play host to second place, John Jay College at 3:00 pm at the CSI Soccer Complex.
