Throughout their stretch of six games in 16 days, the Light Blue (2-4) has relied on its roster depth. But on Saturday, the lack of recovery time between games—plus a quality opponent—proved too much for the Lions as the men’s soccer team fell 1-0 to Delaware (2-4-1).
“One thing that’s not in question is the effort,” head coach Kevin Anderson said. “It’s about effort and quality. We didn’t have enough quality on the end of effort tonight.”
Junior defender John Dineen tallied for the Blue Hens, taking advantage of one of the numerous free kicks awarded in the middle third of the pitch. Sophomore defender/forward Kyle Nuel swung a ball in towards the far right, post, and Dineen headed it back across the face of the net, inside the left post and into the net.
Rookie goalie Kyle Jackson, making his second start, made one save, a diving stop in the 84th minute on a strike from just outside the penalty area. Despite only facing two shots on goal and five shots total—all in the second half—the amount of free kick situations made Jackson’s work more difficult than the shot totals would suggest.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking, but something that, as a goalkeeper, you have to handle,” Jackson said. “It’s part of the game, but it’s something that you control.”
Although the Lions have seen an average of 22 fouls a game called between themselves and their opponent this season, the Light Blue and Delaware combined for 35 fouls in the game.
“He [the referee] talked to the coaches before the game and said, ‘Listen, I’m going to call it extremely tight based on the way the last two years have gone for you guys,’ and he did that, and he did a good job,” Anderson said.
The Lions had a great chance to tie the game in the 79th minute off a free kick after drawing a foul. Sophomore midfielder Mike Abraham delivered the free kick into the box. The goalie missed the ball and it ended up bouncing and heading for the net before a Blue Hen player volleyed it away from the goal. A foul on Columbia was also called, either for an infraction on that play or a sequence immediately following.
“The guys know I don’t give the benefit of the doubt,” Anderson said. “It’s about quality. Everything else is an excuse. But six games in a short period of time, I think that had a very big part of what happened tonight.”
Columbia has a few days off before playing at Long Island on Saturday.