Scrimmage beneficial for Club Men’s Soccer team
By Issac Donsky, Contributing Writer
File Photo by Patrick Burke/ The Towerlight
The Towson men’s club soccer team held an inter-squad scrimmage Saturday afternoon at Burdick Field in place of the doubleheader they had originally scheduled with the University of Pittsburgh after the Panthers canceled.
The Tigers received a text from the Pittsburgh club soccer president the day before the match claiming that the Panthers would not be able to attend do to a few injuries to their squad.
“It kind of sucks,” said senior right back Brenden Turco. “We’ve had this planned out for a couple weeks. It tends to happen though, especially with teams that are farther away.”
In place of the doubleheader, the Tigers played a single inter-squad scrimmage, pitting the team’s lineup for the Fall Nationals tournament, wearing black, against their reserves, wearing yellow. To make the contest more interesting, several players from the Fall Nationals lineup were placed on the yellow team. The black team would end up with a decisive 3-2 win.
“We got to see how well different players work with each other,” Turco said about the match. “That’s going to play a big role in how we determine the final starting roster for Nationals and the coming spring semester.”
The scrimmage got off to a slow start until sophomore striker Josh Jankiewicz scored for the yellow side just before halftime. The black team responded with two quick goals by freshman striker Connell Poku and senior club president Gavin Boyer. Up 2-1, the black team looked to be in control until sophomore left back Madden Mellner scored for the yellow team with under a minute left, making it 2-2. Seconds later, sophomore center mid Diego Soto scored to give the black side the match win.
Saturday’s scrimmage was all about game fitness for the Tigers, who had gone two weeks without a game. With the Pittsburgh game canceled, it would have been three weeks without any action.
According to Boyer, the Tiger’s have had an up-and-down season. Currently sitting with a 4-5-2 record with one more game to go before Nationals, the Tigers have dealt with plenty of hardships along the way.
“There were a few games that were pretty difficult to win,” Boyer said, “but the team has been improving despite the record.”
The Tigers play Johns Hopkins at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9 at Burdick Field. It will be their final game of the semester. Following the game vs. the Blue Jays Towson will travel to Round Rock, Texas for Fall Nationals.
