The City University of New York Athletic Conference soccer league is not about talent. Or numbers.
Lehman College's Michel Generoso was sent off in the 55th minute against Brooklyn College, but the home side hung onto a 1-1 draw all the way to double overtime Saturday afternoon.
The two sides split goals in the first half. Marco Thimm-Kaiser finished Jerry Morales' free kick for the Bulldogs, Maurice Whyte scored straight from a corner kick to level things up for Lehman. Lehman's second-captain Generoso picked up a red card in the second half for a two footed slide tackle on Jordy Ortiz. 10 men Lehman kept Brooklyn from scoring in the remaining of the regular 90 minutes and two added overtime periods for a well deserved draw.
"I was hoping that we can win this and pull it out, you know but, a tie is not bad, you know, a tie is not bad with a down-a-man," Lehman's coach Tomo Gojcevic said.
Lehman (7-6-1 Overall, 3-3-1 CUNYAC) remains in fourth place with 10 points while Brooklyn (7-5-2, 4-1-2) drops to third place with 14 points.
The visitors scored the first goal in the opening 12 minutes. Morales' long free-kick bounced past a couple of Lehman defenders to find Kaiser in the six-yard box. Kaiser rebuked the Lehman defenders for their mistakes as he one-timed the ball in the net.
Lehman responded with an equalizer to think about in 34th minute. When captain Whyte stood over the corner flag, strangely enough, his intention wasn't to pass the ball. The junior hit a inswinger that found the far corner of the net, without anyone touching it.
Whyte explained why he decided to have a go from a corner kick after the game. "His [Brooklyn's keeper IIya Keygen] position was bad so I took a shot and it worked. [A shot] from a corner kick, I've done it before.
This sent the two teams even into the break. 10 minutes after the restart, Lehman found themselves down a man. Generoso over-dribbled the ball, losing possession to Ortiz. Generoso attempted to regain the ball from Ortiz with a rocky two footed tackle. Referee Jorge Ramirez didn't hesitate to pull out his red card.
Brooklyn didn't take advantage of their extra man. Lehman looked as much threatening as they did. But both teams failed to score, sending the game to overtime.
The first overtime could've went either way as Lehman's midfielder Brandon Ruiz's free kick went just over the net, and unmarked Sertac Altun failed to hit the target inside the box for Brooklyn.
The second overtime was a different ball game. Brooklyn outshot Lehman (Brooklyn: 4 shots- Lehman: 0) but they couldn't pull out a winner. Lehman did the unexpected: they stopped Brooklyn from scoring with 10 men for 65 minutes.
"We played 65 minutes with 10 men and we just, you know, had to fight. This conference is not about talent, it's not about what you have, it's about your guts, your heart and whatever you play with: its blood, sweat and tears, whichever you're willing to shed. We're willing to shed... so we came here, we played and we make it work," Whyte said.
Lehman will stay home Wednesday to play John Jay at 4 p.m. in a "need win" game according to Gojcevic, while Brooklyn host Rowman University in a non-conference game Monday at 6 p.m.
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