PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Caldwell College men's soccer team kept its postseason hopes alive with an important victory over Holy Family, 3-0 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match Tuesday afternoon. The win kept the Cougars (10-5-2, 2-3-2 CACC) in sixth place in the conference standings, while Holy Family (3-13-1, 2-5-1 CACC) was officially eliminated from playoff contention. The top six teams in the conference will qualify for the CACC Tournament, which begins Nov. 2.
The Cougars dominated play in the first half, holding a 12-3 advantage in shots during the game's first 45 minutes. But it wasn't until the 43rd minute that Caldwell would find the net. Sophomore Bard Skjelstad (Bodo, Norway) tallied his team-leading eighth goal of the season off a cross from freshman Christian Motte (Lima, Peru).
In the second half, Holy Family pressed for the equalizer but it was not to be. In the 75th minute, Skjelstad earned his sixth assist of the year when he sent a cross to junior Chris Parshelunis (Brick, NJ/St. Rose), who headed the ball into the Tigers' goal for his first tally of the season. Sophomore Jorge Ibarcena (Lima, Peru) notched another insurance goal for the Cougars when he beat goalkeeper Ian Mason with a blast from 18 yards out.
Mason made four saves for the Tigers, while junior goalkeeper Mike Turdo (West Paterson, NJ/Passaic Valley) recorded one save for Caldwell, which had a 16-8 edge in shots for the game. It was the fifth shutout of the season for Turdo.
Caldwell closes out its CACC schedule with a game at Bloomfield College on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 3:00 p.m.
CC - 1 2 - 3
HFU - 0 0 - 0
Scoring Summary: 1. CC - Bard Skjelstad 8 (Christian Motte), 43:00. 2. CC - Chris Parshelunis 1 (Skjelstad), 74:30. 3. CC - Jorge Ibarcena 2 (unassisted), 86:04.
Shots: CC - 16; HFU - 8
Saves: Turdo, CC - 1; Mason, HFU - 4
Corner Kicks: CC - 5; HFU - 3
Fouls: CC - 17; HFU - 25
Offsides: CC - 0; HFU - 2
Yellow Cards: CC - Jiras (54:09); Moynihan (57:38); HFU - Sanchez (54:09); Hewitt (57:38); Stricker (64:21); Weber (86:45)
