NEW YORK, N.Y. - Senior forward Myles Ashong (Pleasant Valley, N.Y) netted a late double overtime goal to give the Marist men’s soccer team a 3-2 victory against Columbia in a road non-conference match Tuesday night. Ashong’s goal in the 108^th minute came from a shot in the middle of the box towards the inside of the right post that beat Columbia’s junior goalkeeper Kyle Jackson. The win gives the Red Foxes its third of the young season in an impressive start for the team.

“It was a great soccer game, both teams played a great style,” said head coach Matt Viggiano. “I wanted to see how we responded after a tough loss and we showed some huge guts. You can build a season off a win like this.”

After falling into a 2-1 deficit, junior Steven Arraiano (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) scored a late goal in the 85^th minute to tie the score at 2-2 and put the game into overtime. Arraiano’s goal came off another shot inside the box and was assisted by sophomore midfielder Dylan MacVane (Middlegrove, N.Y.). The goal was a reward for the Red Foxes effort, which saw them take four shots in the final 20 minutes of the second half.

Both Marist and Columbia had four shots on goal in the first half. The only shots that reached net were the two goals between the teams. Sophomore Mario Vukadinovic (Konstanz, Germany) put the Red Foxes on the board in the 17^th minute off a flick from a lead pass by freshman Erik Dahl (Helsingborgs, Sweden). The first half goal was Vukadinovic’s second of the season.

Columbia freshman Francisco Agrest knotted the score at 1-1 just two minutes later with a strike from the top of the box. Sophomore Nicholas Pappacena assisted on the goal. The closest either team got to scoring again in the first half happened in the 26^th minute when Columbia junior Antonio Matarazzo hit the crossbar with a shot.

In the second half Columbia came out firing with three early shots on goal, upping their game tally to seven. In the 53^rd minute a shot from 20 yards out on the left side by Columbia’s Agrest curled inside the post and beat freshman goalkeeper Mark Rajovic (Katonah, N.Y.) to give Columbia an early second half lead and his second goal of the game.

Dahl and senior MJ Stellwag (Newburgh, N.Y.) put shots on goal late in the second half before Arraiano tied the game at 2-2 but both were stopped by Columbia’s keeper. Dahl finished the game with six shots on goal. Marist tallied 16 shots in total with eight shots on goal while Columbia earned 11 shots with four ending up on net. Rajovic totaled two saves in net for the Red Foxes, one of which came in the first overtime off a Columbia header to keep the scored tied.

The Red Foxes conclude their early four game road stint with a matchup against Sacred Heart this upcoming Saturday, Sep 13.

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