Men's Soccer

Saturday dawned bright and warm: perfect weather for a soccer game. The Carnegie Mellon men?s soccer team took the field under blue skies as they prepared to face the Mount Union (Ohio) Raiders in their fifth game of the season. The Tartans were undefeated as they took the field, and as they strode off the field at the end of the game following a 3?0 shutout, nothing had changed.

The game was eventful during all 90 minutes of play, as shouts and whistles rang out and yellow cards flew up. The first half was fast-paced on the omniturf of Gesling Stadium. The Tartans? left wing, Andrew Park, greatly challenged the Mount Union defense with his vast speed on several breakaways. In the fourth minute, Jon Browne scored a goal high over the keeper with his left foot on an assist from Andrew Park. Despite the fact that most of the headers were won by Mount Union, the Tartans won many of the 50/50 balls and for the most part controlled the game with their midfield possession. They out-shot the Raiders 10?5 but did not score again in the first half.

The intensity continued during the second half and resulted in a number of fouls. The second goal of the game was quite the spectacle. Park crossed the ball from deep on the left side into Browne, who dribbled into the box to face the keeper. However, Browne ended up in a struggle with the keeper in which both players rolled over on the ground in front of the goal. In the scuffle, Browne finally tapped it in.
Immediately after, conflict ensued as other players from the Mount Union team complained that they saw Browne grab the ball with his hands. Heated arguments broke out and as a result, the game intensified and both the Tartans and the Raiders became ensnared in a series of physical confrontations. Minutes later, a yellow card was given to Stephen Berei. Seconds after that, Raiders player Nathan Eaton blatantly elbowed a CMU player as he went up for a header. With a minute and five seconds left, CMU?s Scott Kuppe scored a goal off an assist by William Schlough, bringing the score to 3?0.

Overall, the Tartans stayed strong and pushed through as a team. The Tartans return to the field at Gesling Stadium Wednesday night at 7:30 against Penn State?Altoona.