Freshman Bryan Merlos (Harrison, N.Y.) broke a scoreless tie in the 39th minute, giving the Manhattanville men’s soccer team an eventual 2-0 victory over Albertus Magnus College on Wednesday afternoon at GoValiants.com Field.
George added an insurance goal in the 80th minute with a pure blast from 25-yards out, picking the top right corner. The Valiants found success on set pieces on the day, as the home team finished with a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks.
In goal, senior Jason Torres (Harrison, N.Y.) made three saves for his fifth victory and shutout of the season. Albertus Magnus netminder Donato Piroscafo had a nice game in the cage making six saves, including five in the second half.
The Valiants pressured Piroscafo in the final 30 minutes of regulation, with the freshman making a spectacular save with 1:24 remaining on junior Daniel Carlryd (Gothenburg, Sweden), as the ball caromed off Piroscafo hands and forced the netminder to turn around to regain the ball.
Manhattanville (5-3-1, 0-0-1 Freedom) will face defending Freedom Conference Champions Misericordia in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game beginning at 3 p.m., with the game being broadcast live online at GoValiants.TV. Albertus Magnus (9-3, 3-1 GNAC) will also be in action on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. against Suffolk University.