David Marut probably didn't think he'd have to wait until mid-October to score his first two goals of the season. But after Saturday's performance, the senior forward probably won't complain.
Marut's first two goals couldn't have come at a better time, sparking the AU Men's Soccer team's 5-1 rout of Patriot League rival Holy Cross, who, until Saturday, had never lost to AU. The Crusaders now lead the series, 3-1-1.
"I think [AU head coach Todd West] said it best when he said it was a breakout game for us," Marut said. "It's all the better when it's against someone you really want to beat. It was a wonderful team victory."
AU (7-4-1, 3-0 PL) is now 3-0-1 in its last four games, a stint targeted by the coaching staff from the beginning of the year as vital to the team's overall success.
"Last year we went 0-4" in a similar stretch, senior midfielder Shawn Kuykendall said. "That basically ended our season. Now, we're focused in on our last six games.
The Eagles, whose troubles have been mainly on the offensive end this season, quickly sprang ahead of the Crusaders (5-2-1, 1-1-1 PL), intensifying what already promised to be a match not for the faint of heart.
Kuykendall, usually the Eagles' distributor, struck first in the 10th minute.
Sophomore forward Salvatorre Caccavale set up the play beautifully, possessing the ball on the right side of the penalty area before chipping a perfect cross into the goal mouth. Kuykendall darted between Crusader defenders and slid toward the ball, knocking it past 'keeper Richard Whipple with a well-placed one-time volley.
Nine minutes later, Kuykendall set up Marut's first goal, when he dispossessed a Crusader defender deep in the Holy Cross end. Marut timed a darting run through the box to perfection, and Kuykendall rewarded him with a crisp pass to his feet. Marut blasted it past Whipple and inside the left post to double the lead.
The Eagles continued attacking instead of pulling back to defend their lead until the halftime interval. But the Eagles couldn't put away a third, and settled for a two-goal halftime advantage.
The Crusaders came out of the break inspired, and when they pulled a goal back in the 62nd minute, they appeared to be hot on the comeback trail. Josh Trott, the most danto be hot on the comeback trail. Josh Trott, the most dangerous HC player to that point, scored their goal, blasting home a 15-yard shot that resulted from a poorly cleared corner kick.
"I thought we came out a little flat" in the second half, said West. "We said our mentality was not to sit back, but it's part of the team psychology of sports. When they scored, that basically said 'this isn't working guys.'"
Momentum quickly shifted back to the Eagles.
First, Marut scored his second goal just two minutes after Trott's blast. Caccavale again did the dirty work, reaching a cross from sophomore midfielder Garth Juckem and slotting the ball left to Marut before the charging Whipple rammed into him. Marut simply tucked it into an empty net.
Mere seconds later, HC suffered a deathblow when James Yannick was ejected for throwing an elbow. Few on the Crusader bench protested.
Up a man, the Eagles punished the Crusaders for three years of frustration.
In the 82nd minute, Kuykendall found senior defender Nick Zaron with a 30-yard free kick from the right wing. Zaron nodded an arching header over Whipple and into the net.
In the 88th minute, junior midfielder Freddy Llerena closed AU's scoring, blasting home from 15 yards after reaching a pass from Marut.
"He got two goals, he got an assist, and hopefully he got the monkey off his back," West said of Marut afterward.
AU could surely use a more potent Marut as it enters a stretch filled with four PL clashes and non-conference tilts against Penn and Loyola (Md.). But more importantly, the Eagles hope they are growing into a unit that can more consistently finish matches the way they did Saturday.
"We've been winning 1-0 here, 2-1 there," Kuykendall said. "Hopefully this one game can get us the confidence - not arrogance, but confidence - to put some teams away"
