Stony Brook runs past Vermont, 3-2

October 7, 2011

Junior Berian Gobeil Cruz (Montreal, Quebec) scored twice, including the game-winner with six minutes remaining in regulation, to lift the Stony Brook men's soccer team to a 3-2 win over Vermont Friday night in America East action. Gobeil Cruz also assisted on a goal, giving him a five-point night.

The Seawolves have now won five of their last six matches and improve to 2-0-0 in America East. Vermont drops to 6-5-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the league this year.

"We had some solid chances tonight, and I'm proud of the effort," head coach Ryan Anatol said. "We've been trying to get better everyday...even though we won, there's always things to work on and we'll work to get better for our next game."

Gobeil Cruz, Stony Brook's America East Player of the Game, put the Seawolves on the board in the 16th minute when he took a pass from sophomore Will Casey (Setauket, N.Y.) into the box and then made one move before blasting a shot to UVM goalkeeper Dave Ramada's right into the left corner of the net for the goal.

Vermont responded almost immediately when a failed clear resulted in a good look for Joe Losier, who tallied a goal in the 20th minute to tie the game.

Losier scored again just six minutes later when he took a pass into the box from Sean Sweeney and slapped the ball into the net at the left corner, a near mirror image of Stony Brook's first goal. The Catamounts went up 2-1.

However, the frantic pace of the first half continued as the Seawolves scored again. A long kick into the offensive zone found itself at the feet of Gobeil Cruz, who drew defenders in to allow him to pass to a streaking junior Leonardo Fernandes (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Fernandes took the ball towards the keeper Ramada, who got tripped up by his own defender. The ball slipped away from Ramada, and Fernandes hopped over him and scored the goal uncontested. The match went into halftime tied 2-2.

The second half went quiet until six minutes remained when Gobeil Cruz and Fernandes teamed up again to score the game-winner. Fernandes fed Gobeil Cruz a pass in front, and the native of Canada buried home the game-winner with just 6:03 remaining on the clock.

Stony Brook outshot the Catamounts 21-10 in the game, including 8-3 on shots on goal.

Stony Brook is back at home Wednesday against Albany at LaValle Stadium at 7 p.m.