No. 6 Men's Soccer Advances with 1-0 Win Over No. 3 Holy Cross

Saturday, November 6

6 PM

Army West Point

8-7-2, 4-4-1

Holy Cross

8-8-3, 5-3-1

Army West Point

Holy Cross

No. 6 Men's Soccer Advances with 1-0 Win Over No. 3 Holy Cross

November 06, 2021 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Phil Tor

PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS
SCORE	#6 Army Black Knights – 1 #3 Holy Cross Crusaders – 0
RECORDS	Army (7-7-2, 4-4-1 Patriot) Holy Cross (8-7-3, 5-3-1 Patriot)
SCORERS	Army – Oscar Pereira, 71'
LOCATION	Worcester, Mass.

WORCESTER, Mass. – On a cold Fall night in Massachusetts, the Army West Point men's soccer team dug in defensively to earn a 1-0 victory in the Patriot League Championship quarterfinal match against the three-seeded Holy Cross Crusaders.

Oscar Pereira scored the game winning goal in the 71st minute and Jacob Suppiah locked it down between the posts, saving two shots to power the Cadets to the shut out result.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In it's first Patriot League Championship game since 2018, the Army Black Knights made it clear that they were going to play their way.

Army controlled the pace of the game for nearly the entire first 45 minutes, outshooting the Crusaders 3-2 in the first half. John Poncy had the only shot on goal for either team with a header in the 24th minute.

Army's defensive backline cleaned up all of Holy Cross's opportunities in the first half in front of goalkeeper, Jacob Suppiah. Luke Doyle, D'Anthony Brown, Nick Atkinson and Dylan Mitchiner all made great plays to stifle the Crusader attack. Thanks to the defensive effort, the game would remain scoreless going into halftime.

The second half started off with both team's bringing the same intensity from the backline, as neither side was able to put a shot on target. That was until Oscar Pereira fired a shot that found the back of the net in the 71st minute. Pereira's drive was made possible by a flick pass from Dylan Mitchiner off a throw-in pass from Nick Atkinson.

Jacob Suppiah recorded both of his saves after the goal, stopping shots in the 75th and 85th minutes to keep the sheet clean and record his fourth shutout of the season.

Army would hold off the Crusaders final push to win the contest and advance to the Patriot League Championship Semifinal round on Tuesday.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Oscar Pereira scored the game-winning goal, his seventh of the season, in the 71st minute
Jacob Suppiah recorded two saves and posted his fourth shutout of the season
Army posted is first win against Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament
Coach Plotkin became the first head coach to win a playoff game in his first season
Army is now 7-1-1 in games where Pereira records a point
The Black Knights won their first PL Tournament game since 2018
The Cadets won despite being outshot by the Crusaders, 7-5
Nick Atkinson posted his second point of the season with his assist on the Pereira goal. His only other point also came against Holy Cross earlier this season
Dylan Mitchiner tallied the first point of his collegiate career, recording the primary assist on the Pereira goal

COACH PLOTKIN'S REACTION
"I am so proud of the team tonight. To go on the road against a very good Holy Cross team and get a result is a product of the teams grittiness.

We have talked about box defending and set pieces being so crucial in playoff games and tonight it rang true.

We were able to defend the ones we needed and were able to take advantage of one of our attacking ones to create the difference.

Happy we get to train again tomorrow as a group and prepare for the semifinal Tuesday." - Army Head Men's Soccer Coach, Brian Plotkin

CADET QUOTE
"I am really proud of the boys tonight. We executed the game plan Coach Plotkin put out for us and scored on a set piece. Shout out to Nick Atkinson, D'Anthony Brown, Dylan Mitchiner and Jacob Suppiah. The back line held the fort and defended in the box excellently. Our team is breaking new boundaries every game and we are excited to get the opportunity to continue our season next week." - Junior Defender, Luke Doyle

"Nothing can really prepare you for your first postseason game like that, so you have to lean on the older guys a bit. We've been working on set pieces a lot too, so to get that flick leading to the goal means a lot. It was a big team win tonight and I can't wait to compete together again on Tuesday night." - Freshman Defender, Dylan Mitchiner

UP NEXT
Army will travel south to Baltimore, Md. For a showdown with the top-seeded Loyola Greyhounds. The Black Knights will have a chance for revenge when they play the Greyhounds, who narrowly defeated the Cadets in OT in their first match earlier this season. Game time is set for 7 PM on Tuesday, November 8.