UAlbany Men's Soccer Blanks Bryant In 4-0 Shutout

UAlbany Men's Soccer Blanks Bryant In 4-0 Shutout... More to come...

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

UAlbany Men's Soccer Blanks Bryant, 4-0, to Continue Program's Best Start in Division I Era. L.J. Papaleo recorded five points on two goals and one assist to lead the University at Albany men’s soccer team to a 4-0 victory over Bryant in its final non-conference match of the regular season at Varsity Field on Saturday, Oct. 25. In addition to Papaleo’s career performance, Gaby Seguin-Gauthier added one goal and two assists and Claudio Dantas added two helpers to pace the Great Danes. The team’s 11 wins is the most victories through 15 matches in the program’s Division I era which began in 1999.

UAlbany (11-3-1) got on the scoreboard in the 32nd minute. From inside the box, Erik DiLorenzo headed the ball to Dantas who was standing at its tip. He passed the ball down and over to Seguin-Gauthier, who punched the ball past Bryant goalkeeper Andrew Snell to the back of the net. UAlbany had a one goal lead and an 8-6 shot advantage over Bryant (1-14-1) at halftime.

The Great Danes wasted no time doubling their lead in the second half. Seguin-Gauthier took a pass from Papaleo and sent the ball over to Bjorn Bekkers at the right corner of the box. Bekkers then fired a shot from 16 yards away in the 47th minute to put UAlbany up to two.

Entering the match with one goal this season, Papaleo netted the next two goals to pad the Great Dane lead. In the 53rd minute, Seguin-Gauthier passed the ball downfield to Dantas, who then dribbled the ball inside the box and fired a shot from about 12 yards out on the left. The ball was stopped by Snell and punched out to the right. Papaleo got the rebound and rifled a shot to the back of the net. Twelve minutes later, Papaleo stole the ball from the goalkeeper on a pass attempt and sailed it into the net from about 25 yards away.

UAlbany’s Adrian Foncette made four saves on 14 opportunities and earned his third shutout in four career starts. Snell started the match for the Bulldogs, recording four saves on 15 shots. He was relieved by Victor Tutino, who made one stop on three chances.

Even though they were playing a non-conference opponent this afternoon, the Great Danes qualified for the six-team America East Conference Tournament after Boston University defeated UMBC, 3-0, and Vermont blanked Maine, 1-0, earlier today. UAlbany can not finish lower than fifth in the standings.

The Great Danes can clinch the top seed as well as home-field advantage in the conference tournament if it can win its last two America East matches this week. The club travels to Maine on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. match and returns home on Saturday to face Vermont at 1 p.m.

Bryant (1-14-1) 0 0 - 0
UAlbany (11-3-1) 1 3 - 4

Bryant: Scoring – None. Goalkeeping – Andrew Snell (67:57, 4 GA, 4 saves), Victor Tutino (22:03, 0 GA, 1 save).

UAlbany: Scoring – L.J. Papaleo (2-0), Gaby Seguin-Gauthier (1-2), Bjorn Bekkers (1-0), Claudio Dantas (0-2), Erik DiLorenzo (0-1). Goalkeeping – Adrian Foncette (90:00, 0 GA, 4 saves).