WATERBURY, Connecticut - In a tightly contested, and often contentious, match, the American International College men's soccer team drew 1-1 with No. 15 Post University in the season opener for both teams on Thursday, September 4 at Post's LaMoy Field.
AIC is 0-0-1 on the season.
Early on, the physical play dominated; sophomore netminder Javier Solá Martínez came out to play the ball and Post's Diego Righi collided with him before the five-minute mark. The Yellow Jackets wanted a card, but had to settle for a foul and free kick.
Ultimately, as the game progressed, the field opened up, and the Yellow Jackets struck twine on their first shot. Graduate defender Joe Albano came up with the ball on the right side of the attacking third and crossed deep left to senior forward
Simba Pelletier. Pelletier was in turn able to send a ball toward the left side of the six-yard box, and junior midfielder
Tyler Ferreira buried his first of the season at 21:17.
The lead was extremely short-lived. Post pushed down the left wing and crossed into the box; though Solá Martínez was able to make the initial save, AIC's defense was called for a foul on the clearing attempt, and Pablo Tenorio scored the resulting penalty at 21:49.
From there, neither side yielded despite chances; Solá Martínez made five of his seven stops in the second half, and sophomore forward
Pietro Botasso was stopped on a breakaway, one of three saves by Post's Leopold Dufaut, as the teams each ended with just the one tally.
AIC will next play at LaMoy Field in a neutral-site match with Wilmington University on Saturday, September 6, with a 1:00 p.m. scheduled kickoff.
