In the season opener the Pirates men's soccer team was shutout by Rider University 1-0, Friday night despite holding a clear offensive edge for most of the game.
The Hall outshot the Broncs 15-7 and held the edge in corner kicks 12-2, but was not able to get the ball past Rider's junior goalkeeper Matt Perrella who made three saves in the contest.
Senior midfielder Giovanni Zammeillo led all Pirates in shots with three in 45 minute played as a substitute, with junior midfielder Adriano Gabriele getting the most shots on goal with two.
The first scoring opportunity for either team came in the 32 minute with Gabriele able to get open on the left side of the goal but the shot was denied by Perrella. Perrella made another save four minutes later on a shot off the foot of sophomore Max Garcia.
Just moments later in the 38 minute the Broncs scored the only goal from a corner kick. On the second consecutive corner for Rider, senior defender Jonathan Burd connected on a header from the left side of the six yard box past the Pirates goalie, sophomore Anthony Reichwaldt.
With the second half starting the Hall continued to put balls towards the Rider goal but struggled to put their shots on goal.
The last true scoring chance for the Pirates came in the 64 minute. Gabriele fired a shot on goal towards the net but was denied by Perrella, but the rebound came to sophomore Victor Manosalvas who put an off balanced shot sailing just right of the goal.
For the rest of the half the Hall controlled much of the play but were unable to put another shot on net sealing the loss.
The men's soccer team returns to action Thursday night at Owen T. Carroll against the Delaware Blue Hens with a scheduled start at 7:00 p.m.
Stephen Valenti can be reached at stephen.valenti@student.shu.edu
