St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s two-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday, as a 53rd-minute red card left the Seahawks playing a man down for the final 37 minutes in a 2-1 home-opener loss to The Catholic University of America at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium.
The first half was tightly contested — both teams managed seven shots apiece, with St. Mary’s holding a 4-2 edge in corner kicks — and the sides went into the break scoreless. That changed quickly after halftime. Senior defender Tyler Foti was sent off with a straight red card in the 53rd minute, and three minutes later Catholic broke the deadlock when Azaria Tewodros finished a short cross from Seth Michalak into an open net. Hamin Oladokun doubled the Cardinals’ lead in the 64th minute. St. Mary’s got one back late when junior forward Nick Haney converted a penalty kick in the 87th minute — his team-leading third goal of the season — but couldn’t find an equalizer before time expired.
Catholic finished with a 19-10 edge in total shots and an 11-3 advantage in shots on goal, with corners even at four apiece. Senior goalkeeper Jordon Eckman matched his career-high nine saves for the third time in his career, helping keep St. Mary’s within reach despite the man disadvantage. Haney and senior defender Trey Magnaye each led St. Mary’s with two shots.
The loss comes against a program with real national pedigree: Catholic enters this season as a three-time defending Landmark Conference champion, coming off a win over Amherst in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and received votes in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division III preseason poll released Aug. 4. St. Mary’s, by contrast, had entered its own season as the United East’s preseason favorite after an undefeated conference campaign a year ago. The result drops St. Mary’s to 2-2 on the young season.
St. Mary’s continues its three-game homestand this weekend, hosting Baruch (0-2-0) Saturday, Sept. 12, at 2 p.m. and Lehman (0-0-1) Sunday, Sept. 13, at 11 a.m., both at Jamie L. Roberts Stadium.
