Men's Soccer Cruises to Home Opening Victory

(Howell, MI)--  It was a good day for the Cleary Cougar men's soccer team, as they opened up their 2024 season with a 2-0 victory on home turf against the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Pomeroys Saturday evening at Lake Trust Stadium.

Cleary would begin to take control of the game around the 15-minute mark, and their pressure defense caused some problems for the Pomeroys.  Those problems resulted in the Cougars' first corner kick of the game, and though the attempt resulted in a goal kick, the Cougars' pressure forced a turnover.  The ball would find Brandon Tracy on the left side, who broke past a defender and centered a ball to a wide-open Miguel Andriano Castillo, who scored his first career goal for Cleary in the 22nd minute.  Cleary was able to see out the first half without alllowing any damage, and went into the break leading 1-0.

The second half was controlled by the Cougars, and though the shots were hard to come by, the possession would definitely favor the hosts, as the Pomeroys struggled to break down the defense and get the ball into their attacking third.  Cleary would double their lead in the 64th minute, as the ball found Jack Heald, this time on the right hand side, who broke past his defender, centered a pass, and this time the ball was scored by a Pomeroy player into his own net, though Adam Baldwin likely would have scored had the ball found his foot.  With Cleary leading 2-0, they were able to maintain possession, and finished the game without allowing a shot on target down the stretch.

Vaios Papadoudis would earn the victory, and Austin Freemire finished the game, as the two combined for a shutout.  Cleary's backline of Simbarashe Mazazura, Liam Coyle, and Toby Mattock were stellar shielding the goalkeepers, as they helped ensure 0 shots on target for the Pomeroys.

Cleary improves to 1-0 on the young season, and will next be in action on Tuesday, August 20, when they travel to Evansville, Indiana to take on the Oakland City University Mighty Oaks.  The game will be played at 1:00 PM ET/12:00 PM CT.