Doherty Game-Winner Secures CACC Weekly Honor Roll Mention
New Haven, Conn. - (10/19/2015) – Early in the second half, freshman forward Jason Doherty (Letterkenny Donegal, Ireland) was the benefactor of a loose ball in the Caldwell University end, serving a deep strike to beat the visiting keeper to the left post and grant Chestnut Hill College a commanding 3-0 advantage. Yet, the Griffins mustered all the defense they could to hold off the Cougars in a 3-2 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) victory. As a result, Doherty’s game-winning goal earned him a mention on this week’s CACC Honor Roll.
The Griffins looked unbeatable in the first 50 minutes, building a strong advantage on a picture perfect connection from senior forward Juan Amaya (Cartagena, Colombia) and senior midfielder Nicholas Jaffé (Sao Paulo, Brazil), a brilliant pass from sophomore midfielder Joseph Casaletto (Sewell, N.J.) to freshman forward Jason Burns (Douglassville, Pa.), and the fortunate loose ball that Doherty struck to the back of the Cougar goal.
Caldwell University (2-10-1, 1-6-1) owned a 19-8 shooting advantage and a 4-1 corner kick edge, but Chestnut Hill College (5-5-2, 4-3-2) made the most of their chances to pick up a critical CACC victory. Although the Cougars rattled off the first assaults of the game, the Griffins were first on the scoreboard, at 29:56, when Jaffe served the ball from the left flank to the oncoming foot of Amaya, 1-0. About 13 minutes later (43:11), the Griffins added a second goal with another beautiful pass, this one from Casaletto, finding the back of the Cougars net on a touch shot from Burns, 2-0.
After Doherty’s tally at 50:21, the Cougars were down but not out. A minute and a half later (51:52), a penalty kick goal from senior midfielder Christian Castro (Clifton, N.J.), slid the momentum in the Cougars’ favor. And almost thirty minutes after that (81:22), junior forward Jakub Havlak (Prague, Czech Republic) was the striker who converted his own rebound and set the scene for a tense final nine minutes of play. Emotions ran high as the seconds ticked off the game clock, but the Griffins survived, staving off the Cougars final chances for the league win.
The men’s soccer team resumes their crusade to the CACC postseason on Tuesday, October 20, when the visit Holy Family University for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
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