Box Score BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Franciscan men's soccer team rallied from a 1-0 deficit early in the second half to defeat AMCC opponent D'Youville on the road, Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 1-0 with just over 18 minutes to play in regulation, the Barons tied the game off of Joseph Leonardi's second goal of the season. Freshman Sebastian Koehler collected the ball outside of the box towards the end line and sent it up to Leonardi who was waiting just outside the top of the box and fired a shot into the back right corner netting to tie the game, 1-1.
After a pair of corner kicks and shots were turned away by senior keeper Thomas Dosedel, Franciscan gained possession in the Barons' offensive third. Senior Patrick Canavan got the ball to the feet of classmate Leo Herrmann. Herrmann got himself in between the defender and the ball and was able to turn and shoot the ball past the goalie to give Franciscan the 2-0 lead.
Koehler got three more shots off but his last chance was turned away to keep the game close. Dosedel made a save in the final minute to secure the win for the Barons.
After a scoreless first half, the Barons found themselves trailing 1-0 after the Spartans were able to take advantage of a loose ball in front of the net after a corner kick. Jason Wilson collected the ball after a corner kick and shot it past Dosedel.
Following the goal, Franciscan was able to control the pace of play and put more pressure on the D'Youville back line before finally breaking through in the 72nd minute.
Franciscan out-shot the Spartans, 20-13, while D'Youville held an 8-2 advantage in corners. Leading the Barons offense was Koehler who had five shots, two on goal, and dished out an assist.
"Sebastian was our player of the game," remarked head coach Christian Bobak. "Sebastian was our most consistent player on attack and really helped to maintain and control possessions.
We started off kind of slow and did not have a great first half," continued Coach Bobak. "We gave the ball away too much and played a little careless. We had to adjust to the way they defend and it took a little while. [They] played us really hard and it was a tough match but a good test for us."
Franciscan continues to road trip as the Barons head to La Roche on Wednesday for a 2pm AMCC contest.
"La Roche is going to be a tough test – we are really looking forward to preparing the [Redhawks] on Wednesday.
