By By Dave Diamond
Pride senior forward Michael Todd scored with 3:28 left in the second overtime to give the men’s soccer team a 3-2 comeback win over Marist College Saturday night. Todd’s goal, his third of the year, gave the Pride its third victory of the new season and sent the team into the Central Florida Invitational with two consecutive wins.
The win capped an exciting night for the Pride, which unveiled its 2004 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship banner before the game in front of welcomed soccer alumni. This was the Pride’s first home game of the season.
The Pride started the game with a jolt as junior forward Constantinos Christoudias fired a shot past Red Fox goaltender Michael Danyo just 52 seconds into the game. The goal was set up by excellent ball control from the Pride offense as midfielder Arnel Andrada sent a cross from the left side which teammate Jason Gates headed back across the goalmouth. Christoudias was there to emphatically finish and give the Pride a quick 1-0 lead.
The following minutes would be played in the Red Fox defensive zone, but that didn’t keep them from applying offensive pressure on the Pride. At 22:36 of the first half, Marist tied the score on a rebound left open by Pride goaltender Matthias Gumbrecht. The senior saved a point-blank shot from Red Fox forward Sharif Ali, but Keith Detelj was able to fire a past Gumbrecht into the empty net.
During the second half things began to get shaky for the Pride. With 26:13 left to play, Marist took advantage of a corner kick from midfielder Kyle Nunes. The Red Foxes’ Damian Caputo managed to catch the Pride defense napping and nailed a one-timer off the corner kick which bounced by the outstretched hands of Gumbrecht and into the net.
“Their second goal came from our lack of concentration,” Pride head coach Richard Nuttall said. “I didn’t think they were that dangerous and we had been defending well, but one slip of concentration and we’re down 2-1.”
The lack of concentration would prove very costly against Marist, a team that went to the NCAA Tournament last season.
However, the Pride bounced back at 69:57, as Christoudias struck for the second time in the game, once again inside the goalmouth. After a direct kick from Gates, who grabbed two assists in the contest, sophomore Adrian Papaluca headed the ball in front for a waiting Christoudias, who tied the game at two.
The Pride sustained an offensive flurry late in regulation, including another chance for Christoudias. With almost three minutes remaining, the Cypress native went to the short side looking for the hat trick, but was denied by Danyo. Christoudias brought his hands to his face and was stunned he could not capitalize on the late opportunity.
The game then headed to the first ten-minute overtime that was highlighted by two more Pride scoring chances.
Just under two minutes in, the Pride could not capitalize on a nice cross from Andrada. Minutes later, Todd tried a touch pass in the goalmouth to Papaluca that Danyo sprawled to cut off.
In the double overtime session, 106:32 into the game, Christoudias beat Marist with his speed and passing. After outracing the Marist defense down the left sideline, Christoudias sent a hard cross in front of the net that Danyo attempted to knock away. But a charging Todd beat Danyo to the ball and got a head on it, knocking the ball over Danyo’s hands, trickling across the goal line, and just inside the right post.
“We know when he’s on the field he’s always liable to score,” Nuttall said of Todd. “He’s a fighter, he keeps working hard and he has a tremendous attitude.”Todd has now scored in all three of the Pride’s wins this season, and has a team leading 7 points (3 goals, 1 assist).
“I was really happy to get that goal because I didn’t play very well at all,” Todd said. “I kept making the runs all night and I wasn’t getting the balls, but you just have to keep hoping that eventually you’ll get one.”
The real story of the night was the magnificent overall play of Christoudias, who Nuttall admitted had been struggling thus far this season. Before this breakout performance in which he set a career high with 5 points, Christoudias managed only one assist in his first three games. Still, he was in no mood to brag.
“Today it’s me, tomorrow it’s going to be Michael [Todd], the next day it’s going to be Gates,” Christoudias said of the Pride’s teamwork through the early season. Teamwork that the Pride will surely have to maintain once the schedule brings on its CAA rivals.