Shutout streak strong

Photo by Gracey Evans
Wessel Rietveld, sophomore midfielder/defender, advances the ball down the field with freshman forward Mitchell Roell close behind.

Written By Nick Horwat, Copy Editor

The men’s soccer team has been playing as an unstoppable force recently. Since dropping its first two games of the season, the squad has gone 360 minutes without giving up a single goal. 

Since Point Park’s 2-0 victory over Siena Heights on Sept. 9, the Pioneers defeated Saint Vincent College 6-0, Penn State Beaver 7-0 and the University of Pikeville 4-0, outscoring their opponents 19-0 during the team’s four-game winning streak.

Their first away game of the season was played against Penn State Beaver last Wednesday.

“You expect the home team to attack a lot more,” senior defender Josh Williams said. “I’m looking forward to picking up some wins on the road.”

The Pioneers were relentless on the road, taking a total of 37 shots, 20 of which were on goal. Penn State Beaver only had five shots on goal, all stopped by sophomore goalkeeper Juan Somoza, recording his first win in net as a Pioneer.

Freshman Mitchell Roell and sophomore Marc Bentley scored in the opening half. Alan Ramos, Rejep Mukhammedov, Rodley Thelors, Trenton Fowler and Nawfel Bichiba all connected for goals in the second half capping off the 7-0 victory.

The Pioneers were coming back home with a winning record and wanted to add to it.

Roell and Ramos continued their scoring touch into the game against the University of Pikeville on Saturday. They both recorded a pair of goals in the 4-0 shutout. Roell and Ramos share the lead for most goals on the team with five.

As a freshman, Roell said he was in shock to be producing this well with the team.

“I’m happy that I am helping the team out,” Roell said.  “I hope I can keep it up. The team has been getting really good balls to me.”

Goalkeeper Ryan Daniels was put back in net against University of Pikeville, where he only had to make one save for his third win and is yet to let up a goal for the Pioneers.

“Honestly, it’s all my defense, they don’t give up any balls,” Daniels said. “I’m able to play at a high level and it makes it easy for me when my defense plays at a higher level.”

Moving forward, the Pioneers are looking to keep up their stellar play. Taking home a couple of blowout victories and keeping opponents off the scoreboard, things are looking much better than they did when the team was 0-2 with only a single goal scored.

“We have been playing ten times better as a team,” Roell said. “We have really come together.”

Daniels said there are a couple keys to the team’s recent turnaround.

“Hard work and dedication,” Daniels said. “We keep fighting and we keep winning. It has just lead to more.”

The Pioneers open conference play Sept. 28 on the road at Asbury. Then it is off to Cincinnati Christian on Sept. 30.  They Pioneers return home to Highmark Stadium on Oct. 6 to take on the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season, Midway University.