ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - As losses go, this one was tougher to take than most.
Why? Because on Tuesday night, in spite of playing well enough to win the game, and certainly well enough to earn a draw, the Bard College men's soccer team lost.
The Raptors outshot The City College of New York 23-12, and shots on goal were 12-3. They had the better of the play throughout, had better and more scoring chances, and deserved it. Instead it was just a shame.
That's because CCNY junior Stepanos Hondrakis (Athens, Greece) got a piece of a direct kick in the penalty area, and the ball squirted past Bard keeper
Taylor Bond in the 105th minute, giving the Beavers a 1-0 victory in double overtime.
Hondrakis had his back to Bond and was bracketed by two defenders as the ball entered on a short hop. He tried to get it with his foot, but it looked like it hit his knee and then perhaps a Bard defender and went in. It was CCNY's third shot on goal of the game.
The Raptors (4-6) almost ended it in the first overtime, when
David Mamukelashvili hit a long shot over the head of wandering CCNY goalie Maxwell Berkow, who got too far out, but a CCNY defender headed the shot off the line then fell into the goal himself. A similar scenario unfolded late in the second half, but
Shaw McCabe's high shot went wide after getting over Berkow, who seemed to prefer staying up outside the top of the box for much of the game.
The result was also a shame because of some fine performances by Bard, which had some players in different positions.
Austin Higgins,
Tamaki Chiba and
Gabriel Kilongo were solid in back; Mamukelashvili had a great game at midfield and produced a team-high four shots, all on goal; and
Mark Mannara came off the bench and provided instant pressure up front, to no avail.
Brendan Byrne, moved to midfield, was effective as well.
Up next for Bard is a pair of Liberty League games this weekend. First, the Raptors host Hobart College at 4 on Friday; then they'll host Rochester Institute of Technology at 2 on Saturday. Follow both games via Live Stats if you can't make it.
