The Canisius College men's soccer team lost its MAAC opener on Tuesday night, falling on the road 1-0 to the conference's preseason favorite, Monmouth. The loss snapped the Griffs' six-game unbeaten streak as the team drops to 5-3-1 overall, while the Hawks improve to 5-2-1.
“It was tough on our team playing three games in five days but I still thought we worked extremely hard and were a bit unlucky to take a loss today,” said Canisius head coach Dermot McGrane. “We now get four days to rest up and prepare for a good Quinnipiac team at home on the weekend and we're excited to get back to work.”
The teams played through a defensive battle in the first stanza and entered the intermission scoreless. Monmouth, however, would come out of the halftime break with the momentum and took advantage with the game's only tally in the 50th minute of play. Emmanuel Agyemang finished a give-and-go in the box near post for the 1-0 Hawks lead.
Canisius responded positively shortly after the goal, pressing for the equalizing tally. However, the Griffs were unable to fully break the Monmouth defense. The team's best opportunity came in the 66th minute when junior defender Alex De Carolis had a look at the net but a Monmouth defender blocked his attempt last-second and the contest ended in a 1-0 Hawks victory.
Monmouth finished the game with a slight advantage in shots, 12-8, and corner kicks, 5-4. Junior Andrew Coughlin recorded three saves for the Griffs, while Eric Klenofsky recorded one stop for the Hawks.
Canisius looks to return to its winning ways on Saturday with a home game against defending MAAC postseason champions, Quinnipiac. The schools are set to meet at the Demske Sports Complex for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Game Notes: The Griffs' six-game unbeaten streak was one shy of the school record set in 2012 … The series between the two schools is now tied at 1-1-0 … Canisius was the only team to defeat Monmouth last year in the Hawks' inaugural season in the MAAC … Canisius entered the week ranked sixth in the NSCAA Northeast Region poll, while Monmouth was ranked third … The Griffs were shutout in consecutive games for just the third time since McGrane took over as head coach and for the first time since his first season in 2011.
