The Trinity men’s soccer team, currently ranked No. 1 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III poll, continued their success this weekend at home, going 2-0.
“I think we did very well,” said senior goalkeeper Tim Nelin. “Obviously it’s the beginning of the season and there’s room to grow, but coming out with a few wins was definitely a positive result.”
On Friday night, the Tigers defeated the University of Texas-Dallas 2-0.
After only two minutes and 12 seconds of play, senior defender Denny Mask scored Trinity’s first goal, with an assist by junior midfielder Yuri Ribeiro.
In the second half, junior midfielder Darren McAfee scored the other goal for Trinity in the 55th minute, again with an assist from Ribeiro.
“I think we played better than they did, but at the same time I still think we can play a lot better,” Ribeiro said.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Cardone recorded one save in the game to mark his second shutout in three starts. Overall, Trinity’s offense logged 22 in total, while UT-Dallas recorded five shots total.
Trinity men dominated Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday night, finishing 4-0.
“There were lots of really exciting moments,” said assistant coach Edward Cartee. “There were lots of good things off the ball and with our ball movement that aren’t stats that people get credit for, but it was good team play and I think we’re starting to figure some things out.”
T he first goal came 33 seconds into the match, after a successful penalty kick from Ribiero. Eight minutes later, first-year midfielder Victor Araujo, who is Trinity’s newest player from Brazil and was just cleared to play this past weekend, shot a goal from 40 yards out to make it 2-0. First-year midfielder Claudio Calistri made his first career goal near the end of the half, and Mask scored the fourth and final goal in the second half, sealing the victory for the Tigers.
“In that game, we just came together defensively and for the second straight night kept the other team from scoring,” Nelin said.
Cardone contributed two saves in the game before being relieved by Nelin. After this weekend, the Trinity men are 5-0-0 on the season.
“The team has grown and developed,” Ribeiro said. “It’s good to play with the group of people that we have right now because everyone understands our common goal, which is to always win.”
Next weekend, Trinity heads to California to face the University of Redlands on Friday and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps colleges on Sunday afternoon. The Trinity men currently stand 5-0-0 on the season.
“It’s not an easy road trip,” Nelin said. “Both Redlands and Claremont are strong teams, but we feel like we’re coming in with some good momentum, and we’re looking to build off this past weekend. We’ve done well, and now we need to see if we can translate that into a hostile environment and see if we can deal with the conditions on the road.”
