GREENVILLE, Pa. – If tonight's game is any indication, Franciscan men's soccer forward Leo Herrmann won't fall prey to the dreaded sophomore slump as he led the Barons to an 8-3 victory over Thiel College to open the season Friday evening.
After waiting out an hour-long lightning delay, Herrmann scored three of his four goals in the game over the final 40 minutes. The Barons (1-0) and Tomcats (0-1) took a 2-2 tie into the break before Herrmann's second goal of the game gave FUS a 3-2 lead in the 51st minute.
"Leo is having a great start to the season," commented head coach Ward Rogers. "We want him to go a little wider on the wing than he did last year. If he goes wider, Leo will have a better view of the field and take advantage of more scoring opportunities."
Herrmann set a new career-high in goals with his first hat trick of the season.
It wasn't all Herrmann though as senior John Imbimbo created a lot of space for the forwards to attack the net. Imbimbo handed out three assists, including a pair in the Barons' big second half.
Senior Jace VanSteenburg corralled a pass from junior Joseph Duran for his first goal of the season to give the Barons a 4-2 lead before the Tomcats got within one with 33 minutes to play.
Duran took a break from handing out assists to net one of his own in the 59th minute before Herrmann struck two more times to give FUS an insurmountable 7-3 lead . Senior Dan Binette finished out the game's scoring with his first of the year with just under 14 minutes to play.
Brennan McNamara scored his first goal of the season to open the game just 11:17 into play.
"McNamara had a nice game for us today. He scored his first goal and it's nice to see a young player get out early and score," remarked Rogers. "A lot of freshmen had a really strong game today. Michael Bobak and Leo James stepped up for us and played a great first game for us."
Rogers added, "The freshmen class is strong and is forcing the entire team to play at a higher level. They are practicing strong and making the upperclassmen really compete for their spots on the starting line-up."
Dominic Walker scored both of Thiel's first half goals to keep the score even after the first 45 minutes.
"We gave up a couple of bad goals on quick corners. Thiel was very fast. Whenever we over handled the bar, [the Tomcats] took advantage."
"They were very effective on the corners and we had to stop giving them chances that allowed them to score," continued Rogers. "Thiel is a very fast team. For us, we had to really tighten up on the defensive side in the second half and played well. Once we figured out what they were doing, we were able to adjust and stop their attack."
"We were a little impatient in the first half, but we came out in the second half and controlled the ball and our passing was better."
Looking to tomorrow, the Barons look to carry the energy from tonight's win over against Westminster.
"Westminster always plays us tough. They are a very disciplined team and will take the midfield away which is one of our strengths. We will have to work hard to maintain possession there."
Franciscan will take on Westminster tomorrow at 2:00 pm at its home field.
