Box Score West Palm Beach, Fla.- The Lawrence Technological University (Mich.) men's soccer team finished their participation in the 2018 Keiser Invitational after tying the game against (RV) Keiser University (Fla.) earlier today with a score of 1-1. The game was played under bad weather conditions. In fact, it was paused in the middle of the second half for about 30 minutes.
The Blue Devils went to sudden death against the Seahawks after Alvaro Merino(FR/Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, Spain) tied the game in the 80th minute. The format of the sudden death was golden-goal, which means that the team to first-score in any of the two over-time 10-minute halves wins the game; if this does not happen, the final score is a draw, which was the final score of this game.
Goalkeeper Peter Arton (JR/Northville, Mich.) had his season debut. He played the 45 minutes of the game and got three saves. The game was very even throughout its 110-minute duration, both teams had divided ball possession and shots on goal. The Blue Devils barely outshoot the Seahawks 16-15. However, both teams had equal shots on goal, four. The Blue Devil with the most shots on goal was Adrian Miling (SO/Las Rozas, Madrid, Spain) with two. The score was so close throughout the game, which caused 38 fouls and six yellow cards drawn.
The Seahawks went up on the scoreboard in the 20th minute when Theo Campbell, assisted by Evan Finnegan and Amine Meski, volleyed the ball off the corner to the back of the net. The Blue Devils tried to tie the game for the rest of the first half by shooting five times but were not able to score. Jake Rajewski (SR/Midland, Mich.) and Jaccob Sooy(JR/Bay Village, Ohio) were very close to scoring on the 36th and 38th minutes, as they hit the crossbar and post respectively.
During the second half, the Blue Devils had two shots, one of which was on goal. LTU was able to score and tie the game in the 80th minute when Merino, assisted by Nicolas Rodriguez-Bermejo (JR/Madrid, Spain), shot within the box to the inside part the left post. Merino had the opportunity of scoring the golden goal in the 94th minute, but the shot went just wide of the left post.
Lawrence Tech asked Head Coach Will Dyer for his thoughts on the game. Here is what he had to say about the match:
"[The] boys played great today versus a very strong program. [We] fell down 1-0 in [the] first half. [However, we] played very good soccer in the second half, which lead to Merino's goal. [We] had our chances in over-time to win but were not lucky enough to get the ball in. [I am] really impressed with their desire to not give up and keep fighting. Now we get ready for our Blue Devil Classic".
The Blue Devils will be back in action at the Blue Devil Classic on September 7 at noon in LTU Athletic Field; this will be their first home game of the season.
