FIGHTING TIGER MEN’S SOCCER SINKS FMCC RAIDERS 3-0 IN JOHNSTOWN

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s soccer team continued their impressive start to the 2006 season with a 3-0 road victory over Mountain Valley Conference rival Fulton-Montgomery Community College on the Raiders home turf in Johnstown, NY yesterday. The win pushes the Fighting Tigers overall record to 5-1 on the season with a 3-1 record versus conference competition. Cobleskill is currently ranked eighteenth in the latest NJCAA Division III National Poll.

In a season where the Cobleskill offense was expected to be vastly improved it has been the Fighting Tigers defense that has earned rave reviews early on this year. The team’s third shutout win of the season left Head Coach Rob Szmarz upbeat about his defensive unit’s, intelligence, cohesion and depth.

“Their forwards were constantly hanging back with our last defender expanding the field our midfielders needed to cover and I thought we did an exceptional job of controlling that area today. They had two shots on goal during the first two minutes of play and that was the extent of it for the rest of the game,” said Szmarz. “With Christian Velasquez, (senior, Woodside, NY, Francis Lewis High School), injured, Brian Killips, (freshman, Troy, NY, Christian Brothers Academy), has done an excellent job of filling in. This along with the play of Josh Cookfair, (senior, Scotia, NY, Schalmont High School), Phil Venditti, (senior, Voorheesville, NY, Voorheesville High School), and Menesky Magloire, (freshman, Brooklyn, NY, Clara Barton High School), has been remarkable this season so far.”

With the Fighting Tiger defense controlling their side of the field the Cobleskill offense struck twice in the first half as freshman midfielder Greg Klopfer, Voorheesville, NY, Voorheesville High School, and senior forward Hugh Campbell, Bronx, NY, Evander Childs High School, each tallied during the stanza. Freshman forward Jamey Crumb, McGraw, NY, McGraw High School, closed the scoring with a second half goal to go along with an assist while freshman midfielder Rilwan Salawu, Brooklyn, NY, Franklin D. Roosevelt High School, added two assists in the contest. Cobleskill also received single assists from freshman midfielder Essaha Jallow, Bronx, NY, Dewitt Clinton High School, and from defenders Phil Venditti and Menesky Magloire.

Cobleskill will next be in action on Saturday September 23rd when they host Word of Life Bible College of Schroon Lake, NY beginning at 12:00 PM as part of a doubleheader with the Fighting Tiger women’s soccer team who will host Clinton Community College beginning at 2:00 PM at the Cobleskill Soccer Complex. Admission to all Fighting Tiger regular season home contests is free to the general public.