Men’s soccer remains in a funk, falls to DoC

Richard Schulz
Staff Writer

On Saturday, Millersville played against District of Columbia on the Pucillo Field. The Firebirds are ranked 7th in the East Region polls and showed it as they took the win against Millersville 2-1. This loss continues the winless streak in the last four matches for the Marauders at 1-4-1.

Jesse Zimmerman scored the lone goal for the Marauders.
Jesse Zimmerman scored the lone goal for the Marauders.

The match looked bright for the Marauders as they scored within the first 10 minutes of the match. At 8:28, Jaime Vazquez kicked a through ball that met Jesse Zimmerman giving him a one-on-one matchup. Louis Conner, Firebirds’ goalkeeper, couldn’t reach the ball at his angle and was scored on putting the Marauders up 1-0. However, the match was far from over.

Four minutes later the Firebirds were back in it. Due to debatable calls by the officials, a penalty kick was given to the Firebirds’ midfielder, Nenad Smiljanic, which he capitalized on and tied the match up at 1-1. That counted as Smiljanic’s second penalty kick goal of the season.

It was nearly the end of the first half and shots were fired from both ends. Millersville had

shot the ball eight times since their first goal but nothing could find the back of the net. District of Columbia had a slightly different turn out. Diego Alvarado crossed the ball into the box and reached Elio Hernandez. Hernandez beat David Brubaker, Millersville’s goalkeeper, as the ball trickled past. The half ended with the Firebirds up 2-1.

The second half was competitive but uneventful as neither team scored.

MSOCSCOREAlthough there was no equalizer, there were opportunities. Millersville midfielder Christopher Sosa fired a shot from 25-yards out at the 58:49 mark but was disappointed as it hit off the cross bar and went over the net. Jaime Vazquez also gave his best effort to score but was denied the chance, as Louis Connor was also able to scoop the ball up before it rolled into the bottom corner of the net. Nothing could bring the Marauders back into the match.

Millersville will be holding their PSAC opening match against Slippery Rock at the Pucillo Field Wednesday, 24 at 3p.m.