ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - Bard College men's soccer coach Scott Swere has been inserting some freshmen into the lineup early in the season, not only to gauge their skill and fitness, but to give his starters a breather from time to time.
On Sunday, one of those freshmen made all the difference in the world.
Yu Sung Eo, who has been averaging less than 30 minutes per game so far this season, made the most of his 26 minutes on Sunday, scoring twice to lead Bard to a 2-1 win over Polytechnic Institute of NYU on the final day of the Raptors Classic.
Bard won both games this weekend, but SUNY New Paltz did, too, and took First Place in the classic format by having a greater goal differential. NYU-Poly was third, and Green Mountain College, fourth. Bard will play SUNY New Paltz next Sunday at home, but didn't play them this weekend.
NYU-Poly (0-4-1) is no stranger to Bard, since the schools were each members of the Skyline Conference until this fall, when Bard moved to the Liberty League. The Fighting Blue Jays had an edge in shots and corners in the first half, although it was evenly played, and the prospect of overtime was looming even at the start of the second half.
Eo struck in the 62nd minute, taking a feed from sophomore
Christian Letourneau and surprising NYU-Poly keeper Rishi Sarkar (Cherry Hill, NJ) with a quick shot. The way things were going, it looked like one goal was going to be enough for either team on this day.
But NYU-Poly turned up the heat, got Bard on its heels, and eventually got what it needed. A Bard defender was called for a hand ball in the penalty area, and senior Joe Gabor (Warwick, NY) blasted home a penalty kick to knot the score at 1-1 in the 76th minute.
By that time, Eo was back on the bench. He re-entered the game in the 82nd minute and broke the tie in the 84th minute. After senior
Jacob Hartog was knocked down just outside the penalty area, senior
Jonah Peterschild bent a direct kick around a wall of NYU-Poly players, forcing Sarkar to make an excellent diving stop.
Problem was, Sarkar didn't catch the ball, and Eo, who had gotten free of his mark, pounced on the rebound and pumped it in from about three feet away, right in front of the goal mouth on the far post.
The Fighting Blue Jays had two good scoring opportunities in the final five minutes, but senior goalie
Deven Connelly, who was aggressive all day, punched them away, as he'd done with several others earlier. He finished with five saves.
The Raptors will play their first-ever Liberty League game on Wednesday night at 7 when Skidmore comes to town.
2011 BARD RAPTORS CLASSIC
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Green Mountain College: Nate Kishbaugh, Charly Thevenau
NYU-Poly: Joe Gabor, Allen Rohr
Bard: Deven Connelly, Stergios Mentesides,
Yu Sung Eo
SUNY New Paltz: Joe Emberger, Brendan Ujvary, Jamal Lis-Simmons
Tournament MVP: Tommy Garafola, SUNY New Paltz
