NEW YORK, NY – The Yeshiva men’s soccer team took a 1-0 lead 20 minutes into the season opener against Medgar Evers Tuesday evening off the foot of Zachary Stern (Columbus, OH/Columbus Torah Academy). The unassisted goal stood for ten minutes until the Cougars tied the game at 1 before entering the break. The Cougars (1-0) outscored the Maccabees (0-1) 4-2 in the second half to grab a 5-3 season opening win.
The Yeshiva defense played tough all night, forcing the Cougars offsides 12 times and allowing only 14 shots on goal. Mark Rocklin (Rochester, NY/Halb) saved 9 shots in the game, two of which came on breakaway attempts by Medgar Evers.
Medgar Evers scored at the beginning of the second half to grab a 2-1 lead, but the Maccabees knotted it at 2 each only nine minutes later. The goal was David Banoun’s (Paris, France/Pospeur) first of the game; a shot that skid past the diving goalkeeper from Medgar Evers. Banoun would later score on a free kick that he wrapped over and around the wall of defenders and through the keepers’ hands.
For the Cougars, Sharard Sullivan scored twice in the second half, and Kyle Stephen scored the other three goals, including the last with less than a minute remaining. The Cougars took 29 shots and 7 corner kicks in the game.
Yeshiva will take the field next on Thursday evening against Lehman College on the road. The game is scheduled to begin at 7PM.