No. 16 Men's Soccer remains undefeated
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. -- The 16th ranked Andrew men's soccer team continued to remain undefeated with a decisive 5-1 win over ASA Miami on Friday night in Pembroke Pines, Fla.
"This is a nice win, but we started slow before finding ourselves," said head coach Rudy Roediger. "That matters in terms of our need to get better daily. That is what truly determines a team's mentality and success."
Lewis Jones (Liverpool, England) put Andrew (7-0-0) ahead in the 45th minute as Connor Heydon (New South Wales, Australia) passed the ball to the back post for an easy tap in for the Cardinal Heenan High School alum.
Directly after the Silver Storm (0-1-0) kicked off the referee blew for the break sending Andrew in to halftime with an impactful 1-0 lead.
The visitors began the second half with high-pressure applied by Jones and Heydon that caused the ASA keeper to misplay the ball as it trickled under his foot into an empty net to give Andrew a 2-0 lead in the 47th minute.
"It is key that our opponents cannot hone in on just one style of play or player," added Roediger. "If you target Heydon, you get punished by someone else, that is the strength of the team."
ASA Miami pulled one back three minutes later when Andrew gave up its second penalty kick of the year. After George Cunha (Pompano Beach, Fla.) stopped the first attempt, he was judged to leave early, resulting in a second attempt. That attempt the Silver Storm took advantage of and brought the match within one, 2-1.
Jones gave the Fighting Tigers a 3-1 lead when he picked up a great cross from Jack Alker (Wellington, Fla.) after a cheeky play by Jerry Celestin (Orlando, Fla.) in the 55th minute.
Heydon wasted little time to net his team-leading eighth goal of the season when Jones flicked on a pointed cross from Abdel Rivas (Bradenton, Fla.). Heydon held off a defender before smashing the ball to the near post as Andrew took a commanding 4-1 lead in the 58th minute.
After Heydon's goal the game became chippy with six cards being handed out, including two ejections to the hosts from Miami.
Daniel Bile (Norcross, Ga.) took advantage of a a keeper error and lifted the ball over three defenders and into an empty net from distance to seal the victory 5-1 in the 89th minute.
The match ended with Andrew holding a 15-13 advantage in shots and 10-5 in shots on target.
George Cunha recorded 5 saves to pick up his sixth victory of the season.
The Fighting Tigers return to action with a 7 p.m. kickoff against Broward College on Saturday evening in Pembroke Pines, Fla.
NOTES
Rank'em: The Fighting Tigers rank No. 7 in the NJCAA in total goals (27) and rank No. 14 in goals against average (0.71).
Shut the Front Door: Behind strong performances in the last two games that saw three different keepers and eight different field players across the back four, the Fighting Tigers allowed a combined two shots on target while blanking both opponents. Those back-to-back shutouts surpassed the previous two years combined single shutout.
Breaking Good: With its 2-1 season opening victory over (RV) Patrick Henry CC on Aug. 21 Andrew College broke a streak of 23 straight losses to NJCAA Division I opponents that lasted 1,054 days. The previous victory came Oct. 1, 2012 when AC defeated Georgia Military 1-0.
No Comparison: The Fighting Tigers improved to 7-0-0 on the season matching the combined wins from the last two seasons.
Scoring: The boys in Blue & Gold scored more goals (23) in the last five matches than the entire 2014 team (17) in the entire season.
Top Opposition: Andrew College is 2-0-0 against teams receiving votes in the 2015 NJCAA Division I Preseason National Poll.
Close: The Fighting Tigers are 2-0-0 in one goal games.
Home Sweet Home: Andrew College is undefeated at home in 2015 with a perfect 4-0-0 record surpassing the most wins at home in modern history.
Road Boys: The Fighting Tigers are undefeated away from Hord Athletic Complex with a perfect 3-0-0 mark.
First but not Last: Fourteen different first-year players have scored and or assisted for AC through its first six matches and combined for 70-of-79 total points recorded.
Newbies: 28 newcomers have appeared in at least one game for the Fighting Tigers.