After Saturdays draw, Shepherd (0-1-1) couldn’t pull off the first win of the season as they fell to Lock Haven (1-0-1) by a 5-3 score on Labor Day.
Similar to Saturdays contest, Shepherd scored first to take the early lead at the 18 minute mark. Senior midfielder Luis Prado secured his first assist on the season on goal as he assisted forward Alejandro Oliart.
It was Alejandro’s first goal of the season, but he wouldn’t finish there. He would go on to net three total goals in the loss for the Rams.
The initial lead for the Rams lasted two minutes as Lock Haven midfielder Reggie Holt netted the first goal. Lock Haven struck quickly again as two minutes later, Reggie Holt scored his second goal of the match.
Offense stagnated for both teams until the 37 minute mark as Alejandro Oliart scored his second of the season to tie up the contest 2-2.
Shepherd was unable to capitalize on the momentum as Lock Haven midfielder Ander Moore scored his first goal of the season to put them up 3-2 over the Rams heading into the half.
The second half was a stark contrast to the first period. Lock Haven were able to extend their lead to 5-2 before the Rams could answer, almost making the game out of reach.
In the lone bright spot for the Rams on the day, Alejandro Oliart netted a hat trick in the losing effort. His third goal came at the 81 minute mark. The Rams were unable to spark a comeback attempt as the score remained 5-3.
Other interesting stats from the match include Lock Haven making 22 shots on goal compared to Shepherd’s four. That is not a recipe for success.
Lock Haven also dominated on corner kicks, as they had 12 and Shepherd mustered up a single corner kick.
After the game the head coach of the Shepherd Rams’ soccer team, Alex Jones, gave some interesting insight to his team after just two games in.
Jones mentioned that he knew the team wouldn’t get too many chances offensively, so they needed to covert when given the opportunity. Jones was asked for one thing he game-planned for against Lock Haven, to which Jones said, “finishing our chances, and that we did despite the result”.
Coach Jones also offered some encouraging words after the discouraging start to the season. Jones said, “Rome was not built overnight. This is a new program with a new style of play for the players and they have adapted well. We have the basics down and now we are perfecting the little things for this program to become great on the pitch. It is a working process and every day we are getting closer and closer to building a very competitive program”.
The next game for the Rams comes on the Thursday, Sept.. 7 at 4 p.m. as they take on Seton Hill.
Vaughn Brewer can be reached at vbrewe01@rams.shepherd.edu
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