Men's Soccer Shuts Out Bearcats in Season Opener

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The Barry men’s soccer team opened the season with an impressive 2-0 win over last year’s Peach Belt Tournament Champions, the Lander Bearcats on Saturday.

“I’m happy,” head coach Steve McCrath said. “Facing a playoff team your first game of the year we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. But we fought through the rust and at the end of the day it was a good win.”

In last year’s meeting against Lander, Mark Anderson tallied four goals and nine points. In today’s hot and humid matinée affair, the junior only collected one all-important game winning goal. After a bit of brilliant ball movement in the midfield, Anderson looped a shot just over the keeper and into the back of the net from the top of the 18 box.

Junior Alvaro Yusty started the attack just past the midfield line. Yusty touched the ball over to senior Sascha Koettig then Koettig quickly fed Anderson for the shot and the goal at the 19:28 mark.

“The biggest challenge we have with players like Mark [Anderson] and Sascha [Koettig] is getting everyone else on the same page they are on,” McCrath said. “The reason they are so effective is that they see the game in a different way, and if we can channel that to everyone else this will be a very good year.”

Koettig almost collected a goal for himself in the first half after receiving a pass from Anderson then knocking the ball off the far post on his shot.

The Buccaneers finished the half at a 1-0 advantage with Barry totaling seven shots in the first period and Lander totaling six.

After 03:30 of play in the second half, Koettig avenged his first half near miss with a much needed insurance goal. Freshman Joong Kim took the ball in the attacking third then passed it to Anderson. Anderson found Koettig just inside the box where Koettig blasted a shot past the keeper on the far post during the 49th minute.

“I thought we played very well,” Koettig said. “Especially, for the first game we definitely played well. You just never know what to expect when you start the season. We looked a little down at the end of the first half but Johnny [Rodrigues] had some great saves and really bailed us out.”

The Barry defense proved why their defensive third is one of the best throughout the game. Senior center back Joao Garcia played all 90:00 minutes and helped hold Lander to a mere eight shots all game. Sophomore keeper Johnny Rodrigues also posed impressive numbers with a shutout and four saves.

“Johnny [Rodrigues] worked very hard over the summer and came into camp in much better shape than he did last year,” McCrath said. “His attitude has even improved and it is beginning to show out on the field. He was huge for us today.”

Barry hosts Florida Memorial on Monday, Sept. 6, at 7:00 p.m. for their next match with live stat coverage available through the Barry athletics site. 



                                           Soccer Game Summary (Final) 
                                             2009 Barry University Soccer
                               Lander vs Barry (09/04/10 at Miami Shores, Fla.)

Lander (0-1-0) vs. Barry (1-0-0)
Date: 09/04/10 Attendance: 203
Weather: sunny and hot

Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Lander.............. 0 0 - 0
Barry................. 1 1 - 2

SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 19:28 BUM Mark Anderson (1) (Sascha Koettig;Alvaro Yusty) - chipped keeper from 18 box
2. 48:33 BUM Sascha Koettig (1) (Mark Anderson;Joong Kim) - give and go blast past keeper

Shots: Lander 8, Barry 12
Saves: Lander 1 (Atkinson, Matthew 1), Barry 4 (Johnny Rodrigues 4)