TicketsCINCINNATI - Freshman Darryn Commissiong tallied two assists as both JJ Iroh and Cameron Panley netted goals to lift the University of Cincinnati men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over visiting Rio Grande in an exhibition match played Monday night at Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati. The victory leveled the Bearcats' preseason record to 1-1-0 and saw the defense record its first clean sheet of the season in the process.
// FIRST HALF SCORING
With time winding down in a physical first half of play, the Bearcats continued to push forward looking to crack the Red Storm's defense. After several close range attempts were turned away by URG, the hosts finally broke through with 44 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. With the ball played down the right side, Commissiong collected the ball and moved on goal. Close to the post and with the keeper coming out to cut the angle, the freshman slid a pass across the face of the goal where Iroh was waiting and easily redirected the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.
Defensively, the Bearcats faced just two shots in the opening half with starting keeper Noah Lawrence not called upon to make a save. UC held a 6-2 advantage in shots through 45 minutes as well.
// SECOND HALF SCORING
While the Red Storm looked to push forward, the Bearcats had several strong chances to score once again with Commissiong nearly bagging his first. With 70 minutes elapsed, the rookie stole the ball from Luis Rodriguez, the URG keeper, and made a move to get free before his shot on goal slipped wide. Despite the miss, Commissiong continued to press and forced Rodriguez into another mistake in his box, but this time made him pay as he once moved the ball around the keeper and then slipped a pass to Panley, who collected the pass and hit the ball into the lower right corner for a 2-0 lead.
With the lead throughout, the Bearcats were able to thwart the Red Storm attack in the second half with Pearce Skinner seeing four shots and saving both offerings sent his way. Both Skinner and Lawrence combined for two saves while the UC defense held the visitors to six total shots on the night while the Bearcats fired 11 of their own.
// COACH DAYES ON THE MATCH
"I think we definitely made some strides tonight," Head Coach Hylton Dayes said following the match. "I thought, first of all, we did well establishing a winning mentality; winning the game was important for confidence and also to help the guys with their belief of what we are doing does work. I thought we were better defensively and the guys worked better together. I thought we limited the opportunities for shots by Rio, we communicated better and we were tighter defensively, which is something we worked on. Offensively, we definitely created more chances and we moved the ball better. Certainly, in the second half, Rio was down a goal and held more of the ball and we were playing off a counterattack, but, I think Darryn Commissiong up top really showed us that he has great potential. I think that is important. He set up both goals and, for a freshman, that is great from a confidence standpoint. I thought JJ Iroh played well on the left side, scoring the first goal and was a factor offensively running at the players 1v1. Overall, I think it was a good night out for us, but, we still have to continue to push forward because we going to play our third exhibition on Saturday at Lipscomb. They are a good team, they are physical and we will have to continue to raise our level and bring a greater level of play, competitiveness and cohesion of play from our team. Overall, tonight, I think we accomplished all the goals we set out."
// UPCOMING
The Bearcats will hit the road this weekend for the third and final friendly Saturday night with UC traveling to Nashville, Tenn., to face Lipscomb. The match is slated to kick at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. in Nashville).
// EXPERIENCE UC
The University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced an initiative entitled Experience UC, geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and track and field home events.
// FIRST HALF SCORING
With time winding down in a physical first half of play, the Bearcats continued to push forward looking to crack the Red Storm's defense. After several close range attempts were turned away by URG, the hosts finally broke through with 44 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. With the ball played down the right side, Commissiong collected the ball and moved on goal. Close to the post and with the keeper coming out to cut the angle, the freshman slid a pass across the face of the goal where Iroh was waiting and easily redirected the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.
Defensively, the Bearcats faced just two shots in the opening half with starting keeper Noah Lawrence not called upon to make a save. UC held a 6-2 advantage in shots through 45 minutes as well.
// SECOND HALF SCORING
While the Red Storm looked to push forward, the Bearcats had several strong chances to score once again with Commissiong nearly bagging his first. With 70 minutes elapsed, the rookie stole the ball from Luis Rodriguez, the URG keeper, and made a move to get free before his shot on goal slipped wide. Despite the miss, Commissiong continued to press and forced Rodriguez into another mistake in his box, but this time made him pay as he once moved the ball around the keeper and then slipped a pass to Panley, who collected the pass and hit the ball into the lower right corner for a 2-0 lead.
With the lead throughout, the Bearcats were able to thwart the Red Storm attack in the second half with Pearce Skinner seeing four shots and saving both offerings sent his way. Both Skinner and Lawrence combined for two saves while the UC defense held the visitors to six total shots on the night while the Bearcats fired 11 of their own.
// COACH DAYES ON THE MATCH
"I think we definitely made some strides tonight," Head Coach Hylton Dayes said following the match. "I thought, first of all, we did well establishing a winning mentality; winning the game was important for confidence and also to help the guys with their belief of what we are doing does work. I thought we were better defensively and the guys worked better together. I thought we limited the opportunities for shots by Rio, we communicated better and we were tighter defensively, which is something we worked on. Offensively, we definitely created more chances and we moved the ball better. Certainly, in the second half, Rio was down a goal and held more of the ball and we were playing off a counterattack, but, I think Darryn Commissiong up top really showed us that he has great potential. I think that is important. He set up both goals and, for a freshman, that is great from a confidence standpoint. I thought JJ Iroh played well on the left side, scoring the first goal and was a factor offensively running at the players 1v1. Overall, I think it was a good night out for us, but, we still have to continue to push forward because we going to play our third exhibition on Saturday at Lipscomb. They are a good team, they are physical and we will have to continue to raise our level and bring a greater level of play, competitiveness and cohesion of play from our team. Overall, tonight, I think we accomplished all the goals we set out."
// UPCOMING
The Bearcats will hit the road this weekend for the third and final friendly Saturday night with UC traveling to Nashville, Tenn., to face Lipscomb. The match is slated to kick at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. in Nashville).
// EXPERIENCE UC
The University of Cincinnati department of athletics announced an initiative entitled Experience UC, geared toward inviting the community to campus to see firsthand the great things about and surrounding the university. Experience UC includes complimentary admission for patrons attending women's basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and track and field home events.