Men’s soccer keeps Kats scoreless in tough match

By: Omsalama Ayoub

Staff writer

The Hudson Valley Community College’s men’s soccer team defeated Erie Community College Kats 2-0 in an electric and fast paced game.

The first Viking goal was scored by liberal arts major Marcelo Fazio, who is currently leading the team with 7 total goals this opening season.

Fazio’s two goals nine minutes into the first half of the game rewrote the script for the entire match. 

“I thought we battled really hard the whole game even after we went down a guy,” said Kats Head Coach John Grabowski.“It was really encouraging to see our guys stick together and keep battling,” 

Although the game witnessed the ejection of Kaneil Clarke, defensive player of Erie Community College the tone of the match did not falter as anything but a healthy contest. 

James Doran, defensive player for Erie Community College echoed Coach Grabowski. “We just couldn’t find it back to the net tonight,” said Doran describing the Kats’ misfortune.

Ryan Willis, an automotive student, was proud of the Vikings performance.

“I thought we played really well [with] our defense going up to our offense,” said Willis. “We played really strong together as a family,” he continued. “We try to go fast and slow to slow down the other team, [but] at the same time it depends on the team we’re playing against.” 

To the contrast of the Viking’s strategy the Kats’ Coach Grabowski, cited the need to push back against this gradient. “I think we need to play a little bit quicker,” he said. “Sometimes our guys take too many touches on the ball and it slows us down [and] makes it [harder] for us to defend.” 

Tim Ellis, for Erie Community College did make six very notable shots at the goal, two of which bounced around the box or deflected off the crossbar, however it wasn’t enough to defeat the Vikings. 

The Hudson Valley Community College Vikings hope for another win against Bergen Community College at 3 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 28.