CALDWELL, N.J. - Four first-half goals helped Caldwell College defeat Stonehill College in a non-conference men's soccer match Sunday afternoon at Caldwell Field. The win marked the final home game this season for the Cougars, who are now 9-5-2 overall. The loss drops the Chieftains to 5-12.
The Cougars didn't waste much time getting on the scoreboard as sophomore Bard Skjelstad (Bodo, Norway) netted his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the seventh minute. Sophomore Jorge Ibarcena (Lima, Peru) placed a free kick just beyond the Stonehill defenders for Skjelstad, who headed the ball past goalkeeper Will Halfmann and into the goal. Then in the 14th minute, freshman Jan Marco Jiras (Lima, Peru) found senior Roman Veselinov (Varna, Bulgaria) with a long pass that allowed Veselinov to have a clear shot from 15 yards out. Veselinov's goal is his second of the year and comes in his final home game in a Cougar uniform.
Stonehill suffered a setback in the 25th minute, when Jonathan Casey received a red card, forcing the Chieftains to play with 10 players for the remainder of the match.
Caldwell increased its lead to 3-0 in the 27th minute, when junior Chris Parshelunis (Brick, NJ/St. Rose) sent a cross into the penalty area that was deflected off a Stonehill defender and into the goal for an own goal. The Chieftains came back with just 50 seconds left in the half when Phil Marchese scored off of Mark Bombardier's rebound in a scramble in front of the Cougar goal. But Caldwell regained its three-goal advantage 25 seconds later, when junior Uke Dauti (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) took a pass down the right flank from freshman Nicholas Harriott (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Champion) and beat Halfmann with a blast from 18 yards out.
Junior goalkeeper Mike Turdo (West Paterson, NJ/Passaic Valley) made six saves in his 67 minutes of play, while freshman John Perehinec (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) played 23 minutes and made one save, a spectacular stop of a shot by J.J. DeOliveira that was headed for the upper right corner of the goal. Halfmann recorded four saves for Stonehill.
Besides Veselinov, seniors Nolan Osorio (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills), Chris Moynihan (Toms River, NJ/Manchester Township), Michael Stempinski (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen) and Marcus Lozano (Buffalo, NY/City Honors) wore the Red and Gold for the final time at Caldwell Field.
The Cougars are back in action on Tuesday, Oct. 26, when they play at Holy Family in an important Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
CC - 4 0 - 4
SC - 1 0 - 1
Scoring Summary: 1. CC - Bard Skjelstad 7 (Jorge Ibarcena), 6:10. 2. CC - Roman Veselinov 2 (Jan Marco Jiras), 13:27. 3. CC - Own goal, 26:50. 4. SC - Phil Marchese (Mark Bombardier), 44:10. 5. CC - Uke Dauti 3 (Nicholas Harriott), 44:35.
Shots: CC - 13; SC - 14
Saves: Turdo, CC - 6; Perehinec, CC - 1; Halfmann, SC - 4; Team, SC - 1
Corner Kicks: CC - 5; SC - 3
Fouls: CC - 18; SC - 17
Offsides: CC - 2; SC - 3
Yellow Cards: CC - Ibarcena (22:51); Hali (39:04); Dauti (56:26); Mullings (79:24); SC - Crowley (21:30); McKay (22:51); Bench (25:30); Roche (76:07)
Red Cards: CC - none; SC - Casey (24:14)
