The GW men’s soccer team turned up the heat too late against Duquesne Sunday, as the Dukes defeated the Colonials on GW’s home turf, 4-3. The loss followed a 3-1 win against St. Bonaventure at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex on Friday.
Leading 2-1 at halftime Saturday, the Dukes (8-1-2, 3-0-1 Atlantic 10) scored two early second-half goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead. GW seniors Jeremy Catlin and Fabio Andrade responded by scoring a goal apiece with less than 20 minutes left in the game. But just as GW picked up momentum, the final whistle blew.
“We came out flat out there,” GW head coach George Lidster said. “We didn’t start playing with any energy until it was too late.”
The Colonials (4-8, 2-2 A-10) exhibited some nice passing but were tripped up by penalties called on sophomore Trevor Martin and freshman Joseph Siegel in the second half. Another penalty came when a GW player tripped up Duquesne sophomore Andrew Bell during a key offensive play, drawing boos from visiting Dukes fans on the sidelines.
“We need to show more resolve if we’re going to win at the A-10 (Tournament),” Lidster said. “If we play to our capabilities, we’ll do well. But if we play like we did (against Duquesne), we won’t win.”
Senior Arnar Johannsson led Friday’s victory against the Bonnies, scoring twice and lending an assist to sophomore Frank Ambrosio for the winning goal.
The Colonials established their lead just six minutes into the match, after Andrade was fouled by the opponent’s goalkeeper and Johannsson put in the penalty kick. The score remained at 1-0 for the rest of the half.
Johannsson assumed command again as he charged the Bonnies’ net in the 62nd minute and scored, putting GW up 2-0.
The Bonnies’ Matt Keating took on GW sophomore goalkeeper Derek Biss and scored the first opposing goal of the match. But any opportunity to tie the game was lost for the Bonnies when Ambrosio scored in the 82nd minute of play to cap off the two-goal win.
“The next four games are on the road, and that will be tough competition,” Lidster said. “The guys are going to have to toughen up and get ready to play stronger and faster if we’re going to make it.”
Next up, the Colonials play at Dayton on Friday before a Sunday match at Xavier.
