The Rams carry the ball up the field.
The Shepherd Rams Men’s soccer team lost to 5-1 at home Thursday afternoon to the East Stroudsburg Warriors.
East Stroudsburg struck early with a goal at the 10:58 point by Marcus Torgesson. The goal came off a beautiful lob pass in front of the goal on the left side that was nicely tapped in by Christian Bukowski.
Shepherd responded relatively quickly though with a goal by junior forward Jeff Kammerer at the 16:32 point. The goal was set up by a beautiful touch pass by junior forward/midfielder Justin Marshall, who was credited with the assist.
The Rams defend a corner kick by the Warriors.
From that point on, however, it was all East Stroudsburg.
Andrew McGinley of the Warriors blasted a rocket off his foot from the right top key that breezed by everyone on both sides as it went in the lower left corner of the goal at the 29:16 point.
The scoring continued in the second half as the Warriors scored three more goals, all of which were set up exceptionally well, but were the result of the Rams’ defensive breakdowns. Irvin Zuzic, Bukowski, and Torgesson finished off the Warriors’ second half scoring onslaught.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Aleshire and junior Jacob Clements totaled eight saves for the Rams in the loss. The Warriors kept finding gaps in the Rams’ defense that they exploited all game long, constantly putting pressure on Aleshire and Clements.
The Rams did not have an astounding amount of possession, but did have a few, solid chances to score, but just could not find a way to execute them. The Warriors had a tremendous edge in shots (25-9) and a slight edge in corner kicks (3-2).
Anthony Bracken is a Staff Writer for The Picket. His email address is abrack02@rams.shepherd.edu.