University of Rochester Men’s Soccer picked up a win over the RIT Tigers with a score of 3-2. The ‘Jackets move to 3-2-1 on the year with conference play quickly approaching.
The win over RIT was quite a thriller for the ‘Jackets.
“It’s always fun to play against another Rochester team, so we were all really excited to take on RIT,” senior defender Jeff Fafinski said.
The excitement was made very apparent this past weekend by the ‘Jackets. Rochester came out ready in the first half, looking to garner a win. Senior Tyler Buck scored his first goal of the season off of a corner kick from classmate Fafinski. This was the lone goal scored in the first half. Goalkeeper Redd Brown recorded one save before halftime. RIT freshman keeper Chris Dill recorded two saves during the first half for the Tigers.
“Being up at half time definitely gave us some momentum going into the second half; we really wanted to get this win and knew what we had to do,” Buck said.
They certainly were able to accomplish their goal.
Having said that, RIT came out energized in the second half with Dill grabbing another save during the first five minutes of play. The Tigers then scored two goals in under two minutes from sophomore Akram Meza and freshman Gene Sicoli. “Those two quick goals were a wakeup call, we knew we needed to respond,” said Fafinski.
Rochester junior Alessandro Incerto responded by scoring his first goal of the season at 78:48 off an assist from junior Brendan Kelly. At this point, the ‘Jackets were not going to back down. They were determined to get the victory.
With under 30 seconds to go in regulation, senior Mike Sergeant netted a goal to put the ‘Jackets ahead 3-2 off an assist from freshman Patrice Douge. This senior-captain’s first goal of the season could not have come at a better time. The game ended at 3-2 with Rochester snagging the win. As Fafinski put it, the game was truly a “hard fought match, but through work ethic and diligence, we managed to come out on top,” This past Tuesday, the ‘Jackets tacked on another victory against an additional Rochester-based competitor, St. John Fisher College. This 3-0 victory not only helped to improve the team’s record, but also signified a major milestone for head coach Chris Apple. The game marked his 200th career win after 23 years of coaching.
The ‘Jackets look to take on Lycoming College this Saturday at Fauver Stadium. This will mark their final game before conference play begins.
Lewis is a member of the class of 2016.
