Hello Noke Nation! While most of us were away for the summer, our fall athletes were practicing for some exciting events. One of those events was a Men’s Soccer tournament called the “Athey Cup” hosted by Washington College (Maryland). The Maroons packed their bags for the weekend in Chestertown, MD.
The first game for the Athey Cup would be against the home team on their home turf. There was not any scoring until minute 28 of the game when the Maroons got a corner kick. Will Demus sent the ball in and that ball eventually hit Carter Laatsch’s head where he was able to guide it away from the goalkeeper and into the net for the first point of the match. Later that half, another corner kick proved to be a chance for the Maroons to widen their lead. Keegan Peat took the corner this time and managed to sink it into the goal for another Roanoke point. Washington College did manage to score in the second half, but the RC defense did not let that goal get them down and the RC defense helped make sure the Maroons would come out victorious.
Men’s soccer had a couple days of rest time between games and were ready for their next game against Stevenson University. The first half of the game went by relatively fast, but with no scoring on either side. After the halftime break, the Maroons came back kicking! Two goal attempts were made in the first five minutes with the second goal kick having to be blocked. RC’s Pacific Ibanzi narrowly missed a goal. It turned out to be ok though, because three minutes later, a shot had been made by #11 Peyton Mancini in the lower left corner. That goal left Roanoke with a slim lead of 1-0. Now time for the defense to shine! Later that game, goalkeeper Aidan McHugh blocked the only shot on goal for the Mustangs of Stevenson, keeping the game in the Maroon’s favor. The defense continued to lock down the back and not let the Mustangs within striking distance leading to an RC victory. The Maroons Men’s Soccer team is now officially 2-0 on the season. The next game will be September 6th at 2PM at Donald J. Kerr Stadium, right here in Salem.
Lauren Price
Staff Reporter
