The Dalton State Roadrunners Men’s Soccer team treated their home fans to an almost flawless performance as they dominated the Bearcats of Brescia University 6-1 in a Sunday afternoon tilt at the Lakeshore Soccer Complex.
Both teams flexed their defensive might early on as they held each other in check until the 21st minute of play when Dalton State’s Emmanuel Olusanya scored his first collegiate goal off an assist from Ibrahima Sissoko.
With just over six minutes remaining in the opening half, Simeon Robinson redirected shot that deflected off a Brescia defender to Connor Curran who blasted a clean shot past the Bearcats goalie and gave the Roadrunners a 2-0 lead going into the halftime break.
Both teams came out fast in the second half and looked to control the tempo of what could only be described as a very physical matchup. Brescia’s Lucas Malaguez was able to score the Bearcat’s lone goal and trim the Roadrunners lead to 2-1. Malaguez scored off a penalty kick that came as the result of a foul called on a toughly contested ball inside the Dalton State’s penalty box.
The Roadrunners quickly retook control of the game and began to dissect the Bearcat’s defense with precision passes and explosives shots on goal. Less than one minute after the Bearcat’s goal, Ibrahima Sissoko earned his second assist of the game when he setup the Roadrunner’s leader in goals, Tomide Adabale with 33 minutes remaining in the match. The team of Sissoko and Adabale reversed their roles just four minutes later as this time it Adabale who would provide the assist to Sissoka as the Roadrunners took a commanding 4-1 lead.
As the 90 plus degree heat began to take its toll on some of the competitors, the Roadrunners were able to maintain their intensity and close out the game with two more exciting goals. Dalton State’s fifth goal of the match came off the boot of Miguel Hernandez, care of Simeon Robinson’s second assist of the day. The goal was the first for Hernandez as a Roadrunner. The game’s final goal came with just 29 seconds remaining in regulation as Emmanuel Olusanya powered his second goal of the game past the Bearcat goal keeper.
Coach Kerem Daser was extremely pleased with his team’s effort, “It was nice to see Emmanuel, Connor, and Miguel score their first college goals. Also I was happy to see freshman Simeon Robinson and Ibrahim have two assists. Daser went on to say, “The best player in this match was sophomore Jordan Man, like his last name, he was the man of the match for me. He is so hard working and great in the air. He is a dream to coach and covers so much ground.”
Statistically the game was dominated by the Roadrunners as they held a 27-12 edge on shots attempted, 22 of which came in the second half of play. With the win, Dalton State moved to 3-1-1 on the season, while Brescia fell to 0-4. Dalton State will return to action on September 8th as they travel to Cleveland, TN for a 7:00PM matchup against the Flames of Lee University.