Late Goal Lifts Yale Over Army West Point

October 16, 2018

Another trip to the state of New York, another thrilling victory for the Yale men’s soccer team. Aldo Quevedo’s goal with 1:46 left in the second half snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted the Bulldogs to a dramatic 2-1 win over Army West Point at Malek Stadium at Clinton Field.

It was the second straight win for Yale, which got an overtime goal from Kyle Kenagy on Saturday to topple Cornell in Ithaca.

Yale (6-4-2) had the better of the play in the first half, outshooting the Black Knights 7-3 and holding a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

The Bulldogs also had the lead at the intermission thanks to Mark Winhoffer’s first goal of the season. It came at 31:10 and was assisted by Nicky Downs. Downs played a ball to the top of the box, and Winhoffer turned and fired it into the back of the net.

“Especially with such an emotional and hard fought road game against Cornell, along with one less day of rest, I was really impressed with how well we played in the first half,” said Kyle Stannard, the 5K Corral Head Coach of the Bulldogs. “We were really unfortunate not to be up by two or three goals. Their goalkeeper made some huge saves.”

Army West Point came out strong in the second half and tied it on Keenan O’Shea’s eighth goal of the year at 58:30.

The Black Knights continued to apply pressure, but the Bulldogs persevered and eventually got the game winner. John Leisman started the play by sending a through ball to the right side to Lucas Kirby, who crossed it into the box where Quevedo was able to knock it in from right in front.

Yale, playing its final-conference game of the season, closed it out from there.

“We are definitely happy to get the late winner, and we scored a couple of great goals tonight,” Stannard said. “We knew Army would come out with a ton of energy and fight until the end, and they definitely had the better of the second half. Much credit to Army, but I think we needed to bring more energy and more focus to start the second so we could try to control the tempo better. We made things harder than they needed to be. That said, we have a lot of guys out, and I thought our depth showed well again and we got quality minutes from a lot of guys so it was a big team effort. It’s always harder to have consistency when we have to rotate a lot of guys.”

First year Elian Haddock drew the start in goal for the Bulldogs and made three saves to post the victory.

It was Yale’s first trip to West Point since 2008, and Stannard was appreciative of the opportunity.

“This is a special win on many levels. West Point is a national treasure, and the history and beauty here is remarkable,” he said. “It’s truly an honor to have this experience for our team, and I can’t say enough about how much we respect and appreciate what the men and women here sacrifice to serve this country. To compete on the same field with them is humbling and something we will always remember.”

Yale returns to Ivy play to host Penn on Saturday at Reese Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m.

“Penn didn’t have a midweek game so we definitely need to get rested,” Stannard said. “Fall break can’t come at a better time.”